https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=American_mappillaiAmerican mappillai - Revision history2026-10-27T05:14:40ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_mappillai&diff=485962&oldid=prevAlexPopp6687: made data2026-03-14T09:25:17Z<p>made data</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}<br />
{{Short description|Stock character in Tamil cinema}}<br />
The '''American mappillai''' ({{translation|American groom}}) also known as '''America mappillai''', is a stock character in [[Tamil cinema]], a [[Indian diaspora|NRI]] man who is portrayed as a potential suitor of the female lead character but is often turned down in favour of the [[Indian people|Indian]] lead character.<ref name="fullyfilmy">{{Cite web |last=Arachi |first=D. |date=25 May 2017 |title=America Mappillai&nbsp;– Master of None |url=https://fullyfilmy.in/blogs/fully-filmy-blog/america-mappillai-master-of-none |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804165940/https://fullyfilmy.in/blogs/fully-filmy-blog/america-mappillai-master-of-none |archive-date=4 August 2021 |access-date=12 July 2022 |website=Fully Filmy}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Ramanujam |first=Srinivasa |date=26 February 2018 |title=What if the groom was gay? |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/what-if-the-groom-was-gay/article22855956.ece |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712120742/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/what-if-the-groom-was-gay/article22855956.ece |archive-date=12 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="preeti">{{Cite journal |last1=Mudliar |first1=Preeti |last2=Pal |first2=Joyojeet |date=12 June 2016 |title=Watching From an Arm's Length: The Foreign Hand in Tamil Cinema: Watching From an Arm's Length |url=http://joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/The-Foreign-Hand-in-Tamil-Cinema.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Communication, Culture & Critique |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=231–249 |doi=10.1111/cccr.12108 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250713145147/https://joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/The-Foreign-Hand-in-Tamil-Cinema.pdf |archive-date=13 July 2025 |access-date=14 March 2026 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><br />
<br />
== Characteristics ==<br />
D. Arachi of ''Fully Filmy'' noted that American mappillais are often characterised by their attractive looks, tallness, fair skin, ownership of an expensive car and better grasp of English than the film's Tamil protagonist. Variations of the American mappillai also appear in Tamil films, such as the Delhi mappillai, Dubai mappillai, London mappillai and Bangalore mappillai.<ref name="fullyfilmy" /> In her thesis ''Watching from an Arm's Length: The Foreign Hand in Tamil Cinema'', Preeti Mudliar notes "the foreign mapillai (groom) finds that his status as a foreign-returned groom is undermined by either his villainous intentions, his fundamental inferiority to the values and virile appeal of the local son of the soil, or the comic relief he provides as a misfit in the changed landscape of the society he was once a part of. In short, the foreign-returned groom is frequently the loser in the romantic toss". Referring to his 1997 film ''[[Minsara Kanavu]]'', [[Rajiv Menon]] noted "the privilege of the foreign automatically makes the groom a suspicious person when he comes to bride-hunt", explaining why [[Arvind Swamy]]'s character in the film eventually lost out on the woman.<ref name="preeti" /><br />
<br />
== Examples ==<br />
{{More sources-section|date=March 2026}}<br />
Actor [[Karthik Kumar]] has portrayed such characters in ''[[Alai Payuthey]]'' (2000) and ''[[Kanda Naal Mudhal]]'' (2005). The actor briefly announced his retirement in 2016, suggesting he was tired of being typecast in such roles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 November 2016 |title=The Madhavan who wasn't |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-Madhavan-who-wasn%E2%80%99t/article16445253.ece |url-status=live |access-date=12 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712120807/https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/The-Madhavan-who-wasn%E2%80%99t/article16445253.ece |archive-date=12 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Warrier |first=Shobha |author-link=Shobha Warrier |date=30 November 2009 |title=Karthik Kumar, no longer the US-returned Mappilai |url=http://movies.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/30/slide-show-1-interview-with-karthik-kumar.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105122438/http://movies.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/30/slide-show-1-interview-with-karthik-kumar.htm |archive-date=5 November 2021 |access-date=12 July 2022 |website=[[Rediff.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Warrier |first=Shobha |author-link=Shobha Warrier |date=26 September 2008 |title=The US-returned Mapillai of Tamil cinema |url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/sep/26sde1.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715091308/https://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/sep/26sde1.htm |archive-date=15 July 2022 |access-date=15 July 2022 |website=[[Rediff.com]] |at=[https://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/sep/26sde3.htm slide 3]}}</ref> Director [[M. Rajesh]] has used the character several times in his films, such as through Arun ([[Arya (actor)|Arya]]) in ''[[Siva Manasula Sakthi]]'' (2009)<ref name="fullyfilmy" /> and Shiva ([[Jiiva]]) in ''[[Boss Engira Bhaskaran]]'' (2010).<ref>{{Cite news |date=Nov 4, 2014 |title=Jiiva, Nayan to team up for a romantic comedy |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/jiiva-nayan-to-team-up-for-a-romantic-comedy/articleshow/45024972.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/zuXHU |archive-date=2026-03-14 |access-date=2026-03-14 |work=[[The Times of India]] |language=en}}</ref> Other prominent examples include Samuel ([[Abbas (actor)|Abbas]]) in ''[[Minnale]]'' (2001), Arvind Singh ([[Prakash Raj]]) in ''[[Azhagiya Theeye]]'' (2004), [[Mithun Tejasvi]] in ''[[Sandai]]'' (2008), Roy (Benito) in ''[[Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa]]'' (2010), Rakesh ([[T. M. Karthik]]) in ''[[Nanban (2012 film)|Nanban]]'' (2012), Gautham ([[Rajeev Ravindranathan]]) in ''[[Vettai]]'' (2012), Deepak ([[Rahul Ravindran]]) in ''[[Vanakkam Chennai]]'' (2013) and [[Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan]] in ''[[Oh Manapenne!]]'' (2021).<br />
<br />
== Legacy ==<br />
Arachi drew comparisons with another stock character in Tamil films, "London ponnu" ({{translation|London girl}}), that is often typecast as "a character with modern outfits (at least in the first half)" who then changes tones from "stubborn to submissive in the later half."<ref name="fullyfilmy" /> In 2018, a streaming series titled ''[[America Mappillai]]'' was released, with the director announcing that he hoped to "destroy the stereotype".<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
== Further reading ==<br />
*Mudliar, Preeti and Pal, Joyojeet ''Watching from an Arm's Length: The Foreign Hand in Tamil Cinema'' (2015)<br />
<br />
{{Stock characters}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Male stock characters]]<br />
[[Category:Tamil cinema]]</div>AlexPopp6687