Mookuthi Amman Trailer out: Nayanthara, RJ Balaji wage battle against politicisation of religion

For a decade, beginning in the mid-90s, South Indian cinema discovered a cash cow of a genre in devotional films, otherwise popularly known as Amman padangal. However, these films slowly phased out, and the present millennial generation missed out on the opportunity to see the kind of sway these films could generate. 

Sticking true to his 90s kid origins, RJ Balaji has decided to bring back this genre for his directorial debut, Mookuthi Amman. Mounted on the able shoulders of Lady Superstar Nayanthara, Balaji, who has co-directed this film with NJ Saravanan, brings us a good dose of nostalgia with a side order of social messaging, just like his previous film, LKG. 

The trailer begins by establishing the primary protagonists,  a TV reporter on the 'temple' beat, his family of six, and their family deity, Mookuthi Amman. 'What happens when god comes to earth to teach about right and wrong' is a time-tested concept that has seen many variations in Indian cinema. In the past decade, we saw Arai En 305-il Kadavul in Tamil and the extremely successful OMG in Hindi, that was remade in multiple languages. Mookuthi Amman seems set to bring back this formula.

The film's trailer shows digs taken at shamans cutting across religions to ensure no one party feels offended. There is also a self-proclaimed godman at the centre of it all, played by Visaranai-fame Ajoy Ghosh, who reminds us of Saurabh Shukla from Rajkumar Hirani-Aamir Khan's PK.

Mookuthi Amman seems like a perfect Nayanthara vehicle. Steered by RJ Balaji, it will be interesting to see how the writer in him has managed to maintain the fine balance between satire and OTT. 

Will there be controversy surrounding the central theme of Mookuthi Amman? Hopefully not, but it is safe to assume there will be dissent from some quarters. Given the film is directed by Balaji, who is surely a social media superstar, and stars the Lady Superstar, Mookuthi Amman is sure to ruffle a few feathers. And that will be half the job done for any satire that takes itself seriously enough. 

Here's the trailer of the film that will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from November 14: