A love story that was close to the heart of Madras

Discover the legacy of late actor Murali through his son Atharvaa in the upcoming romantic drama Idhayam Murali.

An intriguing title-teaser recently dropped on digital platforms. The new film had a name that harked back to a superhit which lit up Madras screens and the rest of Tamil Nadu in the early 1990s. Surely, Idhayam Murali must ring a bell. Back in 1991, Idhayam, starring Murali, was a blockbuster.

Cut to the present, the late actor’s son, Atharvaa, will play the lead in Idhayam Murali, a romantic drama that is an obvious hat-tip to the mellow love stories Murali headlined in the 1990s, especially Idhayam. It was a tale of one-sided love concluding with an open-ended climax that hinted at the possibility of Cupid eventually prevailing.

Directed by Kathir, Idhayam had a lovely background score and chartbusters, thanks to Ilaiyaraaja. While medical student Raja, played by Murali, struggled to express his love for collegemate Heera, who starred as Geetha, the pathos of seemingly unrequited love and the naughty streaks on a sprawling campus were musically highlighted by Ilaiyaraaja.

The songs were runaway hits, especially Pottu vaitha oru vatta nila and April Mayilae, even if the latter by today’s standards might be deemed as eve-teasing couched in a dance number that Prabhudeva helmed. Both college students and the family audience thronged the movie halls and Rajinikanth praised the songs in a function.

For readers of a certain vintage, these songs may remind them of college excursions to Ooty and Kodaikanal with Idhayam numbers being the preferred soundtrack while minivans hustled up the ghats. Murali had acted in many films ranging from Mani Ratnam’s Pagal Nilavu to Vikraman’s Pudhu Vasantham, but the eternal reference point to him often stops with Idhayam. Such was the film’s resonance among the fans.

It is no surprise that the old hit’s title and Murali’s legacy is being perpetuated through his son. Atharvaa’s 2013 film Paradesi was an outstanding film about the travails of plantation workers, and he has been a steady presence in Tamil films.

For those interested in trivia, Murali, like Rajini, Arjun, Mohan, and Prakash Raj, has his roots in Karnataka. Hailing from a film family, he grew up in Madras, had a brief stint in Bangalore and in Kannada films, before shifting back to the coastal metro and striking gold in Tamil celluloid.