Modha Rathri - a night to remember

Modha Rathri

Tamil, 2026

Genre: Comedy

Director: Raja Karuppasamy 

Stars: Rishikanth, Anishma Anilkumar, Shelly Kishore, Bagavathi Perumal

Mohan's Measure ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As the old American adage goes, it's not nice to fool Mother Nature. So, one can just imagine what could happen when her high priest is inadvertently not invited to the village wedding.

First-time director Raja Karuppaswamy has hit a home run with Modha Rathri. It is a quirky, screwball comedy with a beautiful message of how Nature wills us to simply be human. 

Ms. Anilkumar once again proves her fine acting skills in her portrayal of Muthu, a rebellious young woman who seeks an opportunity to simply be her own person, but soon discovers that she was fooled. Mr. Nishanth's first starring role is just as impressive; he plays a man still struggling with loss, who is suddenly thrust into an arranged marriage with this young woman he doesn't know.

There is a lot to unpack here about everyone, as the foiled up wedding night turns into a hilarious riot, and skeletons start falling out of closets. Issues of hyper-masculinity, casteism, and family honor are brought to light, as the honeymoon bed fails to arrive, and the bride and groom suddenly vanish.

I really like the way this movie tackles these issues with such convincing humor. It creates a genuine flavor of village life and it's complexity, while straying away from violence and the usual over the top heroism.

A simple shrine to a non-descript village goddess serves as backdrop to giving us a message of what is important in life