Pathinaaru Vayathinile (At Age 16)/1977: Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth, Sridevi; Director: Bharati Raja

A memorable film, how does one count the ways for why? For starters, the directorial debut of Bharati Raja who, in this lyrical film, forcibly dragged Tamil cinema from the stuffy confines of studio sets into the great outdoors.

For another, it heralded the coming of age, in more ways than one, of erstwhile child star Sridevi (though the Kamal-Rajini-Sridevi troika had made an impact a year earlier in Moondru Mudichu, this was the film that catapulted Sridevi to stardom).

For a third, the brilliant musical score of Ilayaraja who, seemingly inspired by the outdoors, turned in a medley of outstanding tunes.

Consider this: a 23-year-old actor, yet to cement his place in the pantheon, goes against the young, virile type. He disfigures himself for the role of the village idiot Chappani.

When today’s stars talk of experimenting, and of daring to go against their ‘image’, this is the movie –- and Kamal, the actor -– you think of. And you smile.