Rajinikanth’s 1995 superhit Muthu has been restored in 4K and will be re-released in Tokyo, Japan, this month.
The film directed by K.S. Ravikumar and produced by Kavithalayaa Productions will be released in other screens and cities in Japan by mid-December.
This is the first time a restored movie is being released abroad. Muthu was launched earlier in Japan as the Dancing Maharaja , acquiring cult status.
In a short, two-minute video, Rajinikanth has wished the people of Japan and welcomed them (Japanese audience) to watch the film. “This video will be played before the movie begins,” said Kandaswamy Bharathan, joint managing director, Kavithalayaa Productions. The video bytes given by the superstar will be used for promotions across Japanese TV and social media channels.
“We have restored the print in 4K and 5.1 CH surround. We went frame-by-frame and removed the glitches. We roped in a Mumbai-based firm for this purpose,” he added.
Technology change
In addition to taking up 4K scan and repair work from original negatives, 5.1 CH digital remix was carried out under the supervision of music director A.R. Rahman. It took nine weeks to complete the entire process and give a new avatar to this movie.
“In the 90s, we had monoaudio and so had to convert it to suit today’s technology,” said Mr. Bharathan.
The film will be in Tamil with subtitles in Japanese.
Muthu was first released in Japan in October 1998 across 50 screens. The title of the film was Odoru Maharaja ’ (Dancing Maharaja) and it completed over a 100-day run with the highest box office collection in the Japanese market then. In 2006, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a special mention about the film in his address to Japan’s Parliament.
According to Mr. Bharathan, the Japanese identified Muthu as a movie of tolerance, compassion and with great human.
Trailer goes viral
The new trailer has been released in Japan and has gone viral.
Eden Entertainment, a Japanese distribution firm, and Kavithalayaa are working towards making this release a grand success.
The film will run in over 25 screens with an average seating capacity of 250 each, according to sources.
