Little John (film)

The film opens with a historical story in which the goddess Parvathi while performing dance with her husband Lord Shiva drops her nose stud (Mookuththi in Tamil) on the Earth and because of which a temple was raised named "Mookuththi Amman temple" in Tamil Nadu. The nose stud has many powers in it and so an evil powered soul named "Kaalabhairavan" / "Kalabhairav" (Prakash Raj) waits one thousand years patiently to capture it.

John McKenzie (Bentley Mitchum), an American student from Pittsburgh comes to India to visit and research the Mookuththi Amman temple and stays in his Indian friend Vasu's home. He is received warmly by his friend's family. John visits the temple and he learns the Mookuththi history by the temple key person Swami Paramananda aka Swamiji (Anupam Kher) and a leaf which guides them to protect the Mookuthi from evil powers which is visible only to him and not to John. John does not believe the story yet he believes only whatever he sees in his own eyes. Meanwhile, John develops a love for Vasu's sister Vani (Jyothika) which is disliked by Vasu's parents. Kalabhairavan wakes up from his long patience and captures the Mookuththi by hypnotizing one of his faithful servants. But the Mookuththi does not allow itself to go out of the temple and hides in a snake hill inside the temple. John is charged for the theft of Mookuththi and arrested by police despite Swamiji's repeated words that he did not steal it. John escapes from police custody and seeks the help of Swamiji. Swamiji throws powder on him with an intention of making him invisible but John turns to a small tiny little being.

Swamiji is arrested with the charge of concealing someone charged with a crime. John seeks Vani's help and they go to the police station with John in her pocket. Swamiji instructs him that the Mookuththi should be placed back in Amman's nose by that day's sunset else John will be 'Little John' forever. John takes away the Mookuththi from snake hill. Meanwhile, Kalabhairavan attempts to capture the Mookuththi. After several struggles between evil and divine, the Mookuthithi is placed back in Amman's nose by John which destroys the evil Kalabhairavan. John gets back to his normal size and unites with Vani.

In the late 1990s, director Singeetham Srinivasa Rao was asked by a producer to make a Hollywood film called Five and Half Hours to Dawn with many special effects and Rao went to Los Angeles and even engaged a casting director.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/05/20/stories/2005052001520300.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060409062525/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/05/20/stories/2005052001520300.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 April 2006 |work=The Hindu |title=Entertainment Hyderabad / Interview : Spinning magic |date=2005-05-20 |access-date=11 June 2013}} But when the chance bypassed him, it led to an opportunity to make Little John which would star an American lead actor. Bentley Mitchum, an American actor best known for being the grandson of Robert Mitchum, was cast in the lead role while Jyothika was signed on to play the heroine.{{cite web |url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/we_rise_fast_fall_fast_jyothika.htm |title="We Rise fast, fall fast": Jyothika |publisher=Cinematoday2.itgo.com |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=28 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228071430/http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/we_rise_fast_fall_fast_jyothika.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/04/06/stories/09060221.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021101220446/http://www.hindu.com/2001/04/06/stories/09060221.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 November 2002 |title=Flair for the unusual |date=6 April 2001 |work=The Hindu |access-date=11 June 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tamilstar.com/preview/little/%23 |title= |website=www.tamilstar.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010429015812/http://www.tamilstar.com/preview/little/%23 |archive-date=29 April 2001 |url-status=dead}} The American actor revealed he was surprised that he made it through his audition and had never watched an Indian film and only had read Rao's resume. The project was made as a trilingual in Tamil, Hindi, and English and was shot thrice, although the English version had no songs. The Tamil version starred Mohan Ram and Fathima Babu as Jyothika's parents while the English and Hindi versions featured Anjan Srivastav and Bharati Achrekar as her parents, respectively.{{cite web|url=http://ww.smashits.com/acting-in-a-tamil-film-is-like-doing-a-breakdance-and-singing-in-chinese-also-smiling-at-the-same-time-bentley-mitchum/bollywood-gossip-723.html |title=Acting in a Tamil Film Is Like Doing A Breakdance And Singing in Chinese, Also Smiling at the Same Time: Bentley Mitchum |publisher=Ww.smashits.com |date=16 November 2000 |access-date=11 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005020807/http://ww.smashits.com/acting-in-a-tamil-film-is-like-doing-a-breakdance-and-singing-in-chinese-also-smiling-at-the-same-time-bentley-mitchum/bollywood-gossip-723.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 }} Ash Chandler, an English speaking comedian of Indian descent, was also selected to play a role in the film.{{cite web|author=Rounak Guharoy|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/I-dont-want-to-label-various-aspects-of-my-being/articleshow/10484725.cms |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707144204/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-25/news-interviews/30319549_1_ash-chandler-comedian-showbiz |url-status=live |archive-date=7 July 2012 |title='I don't want to label various aspects of my being' |date=25 October 2011 |work=The Times of India |access-date=11 June 2013}} Prakash Raj was also roped in to play the role of Kalabhairava, revealing he had to sit before the makeup man from 5 am to get ready for a 9 am shot.{{cite web |url=http://www.oocities.org/thamilanweb/hot_news.htm |title=Thamilan Web Hot News |publisher=Oocities.org |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714151735/http://www.oocities.org/thamilanweb/hot_news.htm |url-status=live }}

The film was produced by Media Dreams, who at the time were also producing Kamal Haasan's Pammal K. Sambandam as well as the Shankar project, Robot in 2002.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/04/04/stories/0404401y.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041112124421/http://www.hindu.com/2001/04/04/stories/0404401y.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 November 2004 |title=Talk of the Town |date=4 April 2001 |work=The Hindu |access-date=11 June 2013}} Crazy Mohan, Sushma Ahuja and Mark Jaslov wrote the dialogues for the Tamil, Hindi and English versions respectively.{{cite web |url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/little%20john.htm |title=Little John |publisher=Cinematoday2.itgo.com |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-date=10 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610214758/http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/little%20john.htm |url-status=live }} Mitchum's voice was dubbed by playback singer, Devan Ekambaram.{{cite web|author=P Sangeetha |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-04-20/news-interviews/28124639_1_devan-song-audio-release |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709201001/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-04-20/news-interviews/28124639_1_devan-song-audio-release |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2012 |title=Devan enjoying his new innings |date=20 April 2010 |work=The Times of India |access-date=11 June 2013}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Little John

| type = Soundtrack

| artist = Pravin Mani

| cover =

| alt =

| released = 9 March 2001

| recorded =

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Feature film soundtrack

| length =

| label = Saregama

| producer =

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Ottran

| next_year = 2003

}}

The film's music composed by Pravin Mani.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/05/11/stories/2004051100650400.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040702143633/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/05/11/stories/2004051100650400.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 July 2004 |title=Making waves |date=11 May 2004 |work=The Hindu |access-date=11 June 2013}} The lyrics for Tamil version was written by Vairamuthu and lyrics for Hindi version was written by Javed Akhtar.

{{ track listing

| headline = Track-list

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| title1 = Lady Don't Treat Me

| extra1 = Srinivas, Sujatha

| title2 = Paadava Paadava

| extra2 = Sujatha

| title3 = Laila Laila

| extra3 = Pravin Mani, Vasundhara Das

| title4 = Jagamengum

| extra4 = Srinivas

| title5 = Baila Re Baila

| extra5 = Clinton Cerejo, K. S. Chithra, Gopi

| title6 = Gone Case

|extra6 = Hansel & Gretel

| title7 = Paadava Paadava

| extra7 = KK

}}

{{ track listing

| headline = Track-list{{Cite web|url=http://myswar.co/album/little-john-2001|title=Hindi Film Songs - Little John (Chota Johny) (2001) | MySwar|access-date=12 August 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812123133/http://myswar.co/album/little-john-2001|url-status=live}}

| extra_column = Singer(s)

| title1 = Hey Hey Tum Ho

| extra1 = Srinivas, K. S. Chithra

| title2 = Aaj Main Gavoon 1

| extra2 = Alka Yagnik

| title3 = Laila Laila

| extra3 = Pravin Mani, Vasundhara Das

| title4 = Jag Hai Chidi

| extra4 = Shankar Mahadevan

| title5 = Baila Re Baila

| extra5 = Clinton Cerejo, K. S. Chithra, Gopi

| title6 = Gone Case

| extra6 = Hansel & Gretel

| title7 = Jung Hai

| extra7 = Shankar Mahadevan

| title8 = Aaj Main Gavoon 2

| extra8 = Sujatha

}}

The film won above average reviews,{{cite web|url=http://hindu.com/2001/04/13/stories/09130223.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922084213/http://hindu.com/2001/04/13/stories/09130223.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 September 2013 |title=Film review: Little John |date=13 April 2001 |work=The Hindu |access-date=11 June 2013}} with The New Straits Times wrote that the "movie is good in two aspects: its fantastic hit songs and real graphics", while about the performances the critic writes that "Mitchum is charming and likeable" and "Jyothika looks sweet with her new make-up".{{Cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9CshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hHgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2746,2840637&dq=little+john+bentley-mitchum&hl=en |title=Funny white man the hero |author=K. N. Vijayan |date=5 May 2001 |website=New Straits Times |access-date=25 April 2020 |archive-date=22 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422041917/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9CshAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hHgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2746,2840637&dq=little+john+bentley-mitchum&hl=en |url-status=live }} Another critic from LolluExpress.com also gave the film a positive verdict, praising Mitchum's performance.{{cite web |url=http://www.lolluexpress.com/littlejohn.htm |title=LITTLE JOHN" A New Tamil Movie Review By Your Prabhu |work=Lollu Express |access-date=2012-03-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921220541/http://www.lolluexpress.com/littlejohn.htm |archive-date=21 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }} However, another reviewer mentioned that "it seems like a film meant for children. But then the director seems to have under-estimated the intelligence level of his targeted audience. Thiru's cinematography is a plus point for the film."{{cite web |url=http://lavan.fateback.com/Cinema%20Section/Little%20John.html |title=Little John Movie Review |publisher=Lavan.fateback.com |access-date=11 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922030254/http://lavan.fateback.com/Cinema%20Section/Little%20John.html |archive-date=22 September 2013 |url-status=dead }} Visual Dasan of Kalki called it "average".{{cite magazine|magazine=Kalki|language=ta|title=லிட்டில் ஜான்|access-date=1 September 2023|url=https://archive.org/details/kalki2001-04-29/page/82/mode/2up|pages=82–83|first=விஷுவல் |last=தாசன் |date=29 April 2001}} Cinesouth wrote "There is no clue about the venue where the incidents in the story happen. Much is left to make out and imagine about the background of the story line. The screenplay does not provide for many scenes that inculcate interest in the minds of viewers. Hence the weakness of the film in parts".{{cite web|work=Cinesouth|access-date=1 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010624184545/http://cinesouth.com/scopes/reviews/littlejohn.shtml|archive-date=24 June 2001|url=http://cinesouth.com/scopes/reviews/littlejohn.shtml|title=Little John}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0447257|title=Little John}}

{{Singeetam Srinivasa Rao}}

{{Sujatha}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Little John (Film)}}

Category:2001 films

Category:2000s Hindi-language films

Category:Films about size change

Category:Indian multilingual films

Category:Indian fantasy films

Category:2000s Tamil-language films

Category:2000s Indian films

Category:Films directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao

Category:Films with screenplays by Crazy Mohan

Category:2001 multilingual films

Category:2001 fantasy films

Category:2000s English-language films

Category:English-language fantasy films