Thillu Mullu

K. Balachander's 1981 Tamil comedy follows Chandran, who tells his employer his mother is ill in order to get leave. Caught out, he saves his job by inventing a good-for-nothing twin brother, and then has to carry both identities at once. The mechanism is a single lie compounding. Chandran produces a new lie to cover each gap; the narrative advances by accelerating this, and the comedy comes out of the pace. It was adapted from a Hindi film of the same period. Rajinikanth, known for action roles, plays pure comedy here, and that has been given a place of its own in his career. Sowcar Janaki and Poornam Viswanathan take supporting parts. Who it's for: those curious about classic Tamil comedy and early Rajinikanth. Who it's not for: viewers who find comedy built on lying wearing; the film stays in that pattern throughout.