With Mappillai, Mappillai Dhanush gets to remake history with the help of father-in-law’s yesteryear hit, Mappillai. That’s too many Mappillais in the same sentence! The director (Suraj) and producers claim that the movie is an ‘enhanced remake’ of the 1989 hit that starred the legendary Srividhya in the authoritative mother-in-law’s role pitted against Rajini. Suraj seems to have tweaked the storyline to satisfy Dhanush fans and perhaps to fit the movie to make it more contemporary. Be that as it may, it would be interesting to watch how Manisha Koirala (seen on screen after a long hiatus in Tamil) fills in the shoes of the gifted late Srividhya.

Hansika Motwani plays Dhanush’s lead, an eye candy’s role done by the pretty Amala. Hansika starts her Tamil innings with this film. This Sindhi beauty is modestly plump, appealing and hence she has already emerged as a promising newcomer from Bollywood with around four movies in Tamil before the release of her first.

Dhanush and comedy go hand in hand. His hugely successful movies have been comedies, namely Thiruda Thirudi, Thiruvilayadal Arambam and Padikathavan. It is also going to be a tight rope walk for Dhanush, whose performance will be weighed against his colossal entertainer of a father-in-law, Rajinikanth. Keeping that logic in mind, Dhanush will infuse his own style to the goofy-yet-brilliant Aarumugam character of the yesteryear Mappillai.

Mappillai has been awarded with a U certificate for its content (family entertainment). Shot across India and a few foreign locales, the movie is scored by Mani Sharma with the soundtrack consisting of 6 songs and a Mappillai theme. Distributors Sun Pictures ensured that the audio launch got enough reach by telecasting it on Sun TV. Mappillai’s soundtrack is brought to the markets by Sony Music.

Mappillai is scheduled to release this weekend, cleverly placed release date just after the world cup fever is over. And with the world cup favoring us, Mappillai’s timing couldn’t have come better. Mappillai is likely to be welcomed with huge opening this weekend, also mostly because fans that missed out on the films owing to the cricket fever and exams will hopefully be in theaters. And what better than an out and out entertainer of the battle of sexes to appease them?