5 actors who have played boothams in Kollywood

While Tamil cinema has had plenty of peis, both scary and funny, there have been a handful of attempts to get the genie on the big screen. Most of these films have been fantasy comedies, with the genie being used mainly for laughs. With Prabhudeva playing the genie in this week's release My Dear Bootham, we look at the actors who have played genies in Kollywood.

In My Dear Bootham, a school boy, frees the genie Karkimuki, who is the king of genies, who has been cursed by a saint. How the genie helps the fatherless kid with him speech disorder and whether he goes back to his planet to reunite with his son, who he has been missing for 3,000 years, forms the plot. Prabhudeva plays Kinkiniya in this film directed by Manja Pai fame N Ragavan.

Munishkanth appears as a genie in this yet-to-be-released film, which is said to be a contemporary spin on the Aladin story. The story of this fantasy comedy, directed by debutant Pari K Vijay, revolves around this genie and his relationship with a young man, played by Vaibhav.

This 1990 film was more or less a modern update on Pattinathil Bootham, with comedian Senthil playing the genie. The film revolves around three friends (Pandian, Chandrasekar, and Janagaraj) and a violin that ends up in their possession. It is in the musical instrument that the genie Sathaiya is trapped, and they release him by accident. How the genie helps them forms the plot. The film is memorable for Senthil's catchphrase 'Ding ding digana.. Dang dang dagana'.

Adapting the Aladin story from the Arabic folk tales One Thousand and One Nights, this 1979 film was a multi-starrer, most notable for being one of the films in which Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth shared screen space. While Kamal plays Aladdin, Jayabharathi plays princess Roshini, with Rajini as Kamarudin, a foe-turned-friend to the hero. Veteran Gemini Ganesan appears as the villain Mir Qasim while Sripriya plays Rajini's romantic interest Jameela. The genie is played by popular yesteryear villain actor SA Asokan, who gives a memorable performance, with his catchphrase 'Aalampana' still remembered by movie buffs.

The 1967 film is probably the first time when genie was used as a character in Tamil cinema. Inspired by the Hollywood film The Brass Bottle, Jaavar Seetharaman wrote the script of this film, which starred Jaishankar, Nagesh and KR Vijaya in the lead roles. Jaavar Cast himself as the genie Jee Boom Ba, while MV Raman directed the film, which turned out to be a huge success as audiences were spellbound by the visual effects and the comic sequences.