King of smiles) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by K. Balachander.

Haasan initially pitched to Balachander a sequel to Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), which was an official remake of their own Telugu-language musical romance film Maro Charitra (1978).

The film was released on 1 November 1986, Diwali day, and ran for over 25 weeks in theatres, becoming a silver jubilee hit.

Sethu finds out about Chellapa's own failed relationship, which he tried to forget by wearing a mask of Chaplin.

[5] The sequel was not made but Balachander used these plot elements for a new film titled Punnagai Mannan.

[7] Balachander described Punnagai Mannan as a contrast to Ek Duuje Ke Liye because it "was in response to people who argued why lovers should commit suicide".

[13] Ramesh Aravind was cast as Malini's lover in flashbacks, but his scenes did not make the final cut.

[14][15] Many scenes of Punnagai Mannan were filmed at Athirappilly Falls at Chalakudy, Kerala in 27 days.

[17] Suresh Krissna, who worked as an assistant director, said of the picturisation of the song "Mamavukku", Haasan had the novel idea of lip sync being perfect while dance movements are fast.

[22] After Rekha's revelation, many people, including singer Chinmayi Sripaada, considered Haasan's actions and act of sexual harassment.

[23][24] Ilaiyaraaja composed the soundtrack for Punnagai Mannan and Vairamuthu wrote the lyrics for most of the songs.

[34] Despite competition from other Diwali releases including Maaveeran,[35] Palaivana Rojakkal,[36] Aruvadai Naal and Kannukku Mai Ezhuthu,[37] Punnagai Mannan became a silver jubilee hit, running for over 25 weeks in theatres.

On the film's 25th-week celebrations, Balachander called Haasan Puratchi Mannan (Revolutionary king).

[38] Punnagai Mannan was later dubbed into Telugu as Dance Master and into Hindi as Chacha Charlie.