'Muthu' to '36 Vayathinile': Five blockbuster Tamil films that were remade from Malayalam movies

Tamil cinema has always given films that were rich in content to the audience. And sometimes, it so happens that even if a film is not a commercial success, it has been critically acclaimed for its story or performances. Content of a film is such a powerful element that it can get even a regional film international attention. However, today, we will look at those films which were originally made in the Malayalam language and were later adapted into Tamil. Here are five blockbuster Tamil films from 'Muthu' to '36 Vayathinile' that were remade from the most-loved Malayalam flicks.

Rajinikanth's 'Muthu', which was directed by KS Ravikumar, was remade from Mohan Lal's 'Thenmavin Kombath', which was directed by Priyadarshan. 'Thenmavin Kombath' became popular after bagging the National Awards and Kerala State awards for several categories. Rajinikanth's 'Muthu' was one of the highest-grossing Tamil films at the time, and it had a dubbed Japanese version too. 'Muthu' starred Rajinikanth and Meena in lead roles, and the music of the film was scored by AR Rahman.

The 1996 Tamil film 'Mettukudi' was based on the 1990 Malayalam film 'His Highness Abdullah', which had also bagged National Awards and Filmfare Awards for several sections. 'Mettukudi' starred Karthik, Gemini Ganesan, Goundamani and Nagma in lead roles while the original version featured Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu and Gautami as the main characters. 'Mettukudi' was declared as a commercial hit, and the comedy scenes between Goundamani and Karthik still make the audience laugh out loud.

'Lesa Lesa', which was directed by Priyadarshan was a partial remake of 'Summer in Bethlehem', which was directed by Sibi Malayil. 'Lesa Lesa' featured Shaam and Trisha in lead roles while Madhavan played an extended cameo. The story of 'Lesa Lesa' was about Vivek's grandfather who is going to visit him, but Vivek spends all his money. So he asks his rich friend, Shaam, to help him portray as a wealthy man until his grandfather goes away.

The romantic action-comedy 'Kaavalan' starring Vijay was remade from the 2010 Malayalam film 'Bodyguard', which had Dileep in the lead role. Both the films were directed by Siddique and the film was also made in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. The popular comedy combo of Vijay and Vadivelu created memorable comic moments in the film. Also, 'Kaavalan' was selected to be screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

The 2015 comedy-drama '36 Vayathinile' was an official remake of 'How Old Are You?', which was directed by Rosshan Andrrews. 'How Old Are You?' featured Manju Warrier in the lead role, and the actress had won her fifth Filmfare Award for her role in the film. '36 Vayathinile' starred Jyothika in the lead, and it marked the actress’ comeback after a gap of six years. Jyothika too bagged the Filmfare Critics Award for her role in the remade version.