Kuala Lumpur, April 14 (IANS) Re-makes of some of yesteryears' hit Tamil movies made in India have disappointed Malaysian audiences.

"There are certain movies that shouldn't be remade, especially the famous ones that have left an indelible impression," the New Straits Times said Thursday.

The latest example is "Mappillai", based loosely on the 1989 film with the same title starring Rajnikanth, Sri Vidya and Amala.

"Why Dhanush chose to accept this film is puzzling since it offers nothing new. The only possible draw is that Rajnikanth is Dhanush's father-in-law in real life and people may be curious to see how the son-in-law carries the role," the newspaper said.

"Soon after the interval, though, you just can't wait for `Mappillai' to end."

The movie stars Manisha Koirala, Hansika Motwani and screen villain Ashish Vidyarthi.

"Manisha Koirala appears as the villainess in `Mappillai'. The lines on her face are clear to see and her make-up is horrid. She has started acting again in Hindi and Tamil movies after getting married last year," the newspaper noted.

"Heroine Hansika has been acting since childhood - she was one of the kids in `Koi Mil Gaya'! with Hrithik Roshan. This girl, who resembles veteran actress Kushboo, has declared she `doesn't want to diet and look sickly'. If that continues, she's definitely on the way out."

"Mappillai" revolves around millionaire Rajeswari (Manisha) who likes to control the men in her life. She agrees to marry off her only daughter Gayatri (Hansika) to poor man Sara (Dhanush) after finding out he is docile in nature.

"The original `Mappillai' did well because of Rajnikanth's overwhelming personality and people's preferences then were different. But moviegoers today don't like their intelligence to be insulted."

The recent "Aarumugam" (starring Bharath and Ramya Krishnan), based loosely on Rajnikanth's 1992 super-hit "Annamalai", also proved boring.

"If the studios want to re-make a well-known movie, they need to do something drastically different by way of treatment. That is how director Selvaa tasted success - not once but twice, with `Naan Avanillai' (Parts 1 and 2) last year although the 1974 original (starring Gemini Ganesan) was a flop," the newspaper observed.