not be a problem to have a try at this entertainer. The dubbing is a bit patchy. Rehman scores on the music front. People unaware of Rajnikanth's popularity can go and check out on what makes this star is an icon." Accolades Japanese version In 1996, Japanese film critic Jun Edoki discovered the film at a video shop in Little India, Singapore. He said, "[Muthu] was absolutely fascinating—even without subtitles". Edoki then approached several Japanese distributors, wanting release the film in Japan. Eventually, agreed to release it. In 1998, they dubbed the film in Japanese. It was given the Japanese title , meaning Muthu – The Dancing Maharaja. Muthu Odoru Maharaja initially had a limited release, starting on 13 June 1998 at Cinema Rise in Tokyo's Shibuya district, where it completed a 23-week run. It sold 127,000 tickets and grossed (), becoming the theatre's highest-grossing film of 1998, with distributor Atsushi Ichikawa describing it as "the Titanic of the art theaters". It then received a nationwide release across 100 theatres, drawing nearly 250,000 in audiences and grossing (). Prior to Muthu, the previous highest-grossing Indian film in Japan was the Bollywood film Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman from 1992, which was released there in 1997. Muthu surpassed it and became the most successful Indian film in Japan, as well as 1998's top film in the category of independent "first-run show" theatres. The success of Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman and Muthu sparked a short-lived boom of Indian films released in Japan, ending in 1999. Muthu was also the second highest-grossing 1995 Indian film overseas, behind only another Bollywood film, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. As of November 2018, Muthu remains the highest-grossing Indian film in Japan. On 14 December 2006, the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, made a special note about the reach of the film in Japan during his speech at the National Diet of Japan. A 4K remaster of the film was released in Japan on 23 November 2018. Legacy Muthu helped Rajinikanth and Meena gain a large fan following in Japan. The video for "Thillana Thillana" became famous for Meena's belly dance, which features many closeup shots of her navel. Meena danced to the song on an episode of the talk show Simply Kushboo. The film itself has been frequently aired on Sun TV and recorded large viewership there. As well, many dialogues attained popularity such as "Kedaikkaradhu