Kanchana
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaghava Lawrence
Written byRaghava Lawrence
Produced byRaghava Lawrence
Starring
CinematographyVetri Palanisamy
E. Krishnasamy
Edited byKishore Te.
Music byThaman S
Production
companies
Distributed bySun Pictures
Release date
  • 15 July 2011 (2011-07-15)
Running time
170 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹7 crore[1]

Kanchana (also known as Muni 2: Kanchana) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film written, produced and directed by Raghava Lawrence. It is a sequel to his previous venture, Muni (2007) and the second installment in the Muni (film series). The film stars Lawrence alongside Sarathkumar, Kovai Sarala and Lakshmi Rai while Devadarshini and Sriman play supporting roles.

The film revolves around Raghava, who is scared to venture outside gets possessed by a ghost and starts behaving weirdly. The film's cinematography and editing was handled by Vetri and Kishore Te, respectively. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman. The film's distribution rights were bought by Sri Thenandal Films.The Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) gave the film an "A" Certificate for "Violence" and "Horror".

Kanchana's Tamil version was released on 22 July 2011 while a same-titled Telugu dubbed version was released a week earlier on 15 July 2011.[1][2] Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film became a commercial success in both languages.[3][4] The film has been remade several times including – in Kannada as Kalpana, in Sinhala Sri Lanka as Maya, in Bengali Bangladesh as Mayabini, and in Hindi as Laxmii; Lawrence acted as screenwriter on Kalpana, while directing and co-writing Laxmii.

Plot

Raghava, an unemployed youth, has developed an irrational phasmophobia and refuses to step out of his house after sunset, chooses to sleep in his mother's room, and forces her to accompany him to the restroom at night. His antics disrupt the peace of his family, which includes his widowed mother, Sarala, his elder brother, Prasad, the latter's wife, Kamakshi, and their children. Raghava and his companions, who usually play cricket on a ground, are compelled to search for another as construction activity is bound to take place in it, and unwittingly choose an abandoned land, which is believed to be haunted by supernatural forces.

While they try setting up the cricket pitch, a peculiar weather change causes them to abandon the land and return home, but Raghava doesn't notice that his cricket stumps are stained with blood after piercing corpses buried under the land. Raghava woos Kamakshi's younger sister, Priya, who has come to stay with them, while Sarala and Kamakshi become panic-stricken by perpetual supernatural occurrences at their residence. Hiding it from their family, Sarala and Kamakshi consult a priest, who suggests three rituals to test the presence of a spirit in their home. Raghava, Priya, and the kids get sent to Kamakshi's maternal home to check on Kamakshi's ill father, which is actually a lie told to prevent Raghava from obstructing the rituals. Sarala and Kamakshi's suspicions turn out to be true after they perform the rituals and to chase the ghost away, they hire two priests, who ask them to stay outside the house while they try to capture the ghost. However, they are actually conmen who are chased away from the house but mislead Sarala and Kamakshi into believing that they have seized the ghost, and they get paid. Raghava, Priya, and the kids return home the next day. On the same night, Raghava gets possessed by the ghost.

From the succeeding day, Raghava begins to act effeminate and detaches himself from Priya. While in a shopping complex with his mother and sister-in-law, Raghava continues to act unmanly and wears a saree and women's jewellery, embarrassing Sarala, who slaps him. Raghava strangles a woman, Madhavi, to death and later disposes of her corpse, unbeknownst to anyone. Kamakshi, that night, witnesses Raghava wearing her bangles and eventually exposes his womanish acts to Prasad, and the family confronts him. Then, the family discovers that Raghava is possessed by three spirits: a woman, an Urdu-speaking Muslim, and an autistic man. Frightened, the family approaches a Muslim exorcist, who drives the spirit away from Raghava's body and forces the woman's spirit to reveal who she is. The woman discloses herself as a transgender woman, Kanchana, who reveals her past.

Past: As a young boy named Karthik, he got disowned by his parents when they discovered that he is a trans woman. Karthik got adopted by a Muslim named Akbar Bhai, who had an autistic son. Regretting that she could not become a doctor due to her struggles, Kanchana slogged to have her adopted daughter Geetha, another trans woman. Geetha eventually secured a scholarship and was sent abroad for post-graduation, while Kanchana bought a plot of land, intending to build a hospital there for the poor. However, the plot of land had been unlawfully seized by an MLA named Shankar for his love interest, Madhavi. When Kanchana and Akbar Bhai confronted Shankar for his act, he brutally murdered them and compelled Akbar's autistic son to commit suicide. He then proceeded to bury the corpses on Kanchana's plot of land.

Present: The exorcist sympathises with Kanchana but bound by his responsibility, he captures her. Raghava, however, realises that Kanchana has been doing this for a good cause and allows her to possess him. Raghava/Kanchana fights Shankar and his henchmen, but Shankar seeks refuge in a Narasimha temple, which spirits cannot enter. Kanchana prays to the god to let her enter his temple so she can kill Shankar for justice to win. She gets to enter the temple and kills Shankar the way Narasimha had killed Hiranyakashipu.

A few years later, Raghava, Priya, and the family take part in the inauguration ceremony of the hospital built on the plot of land as per Kanchana's wishes. A few local goons come to threaten them for money. Kanchana possesses Raghava, indicating that she will return when help is needed.

Cast

Soundtrack

The film's original soundtrack has been composed by S. Thaman.[5]

Muni 2: Kanchana
Soundtrack album by
S. Thaman
Released11 May 2011
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length18:13
LanguageTamil
S. Thaman chronology
Veera
(2011)		 Muni 2: Kanchana
(2011)		 Vandhaan Vendraan
(2011)
Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Nillu Nillu Nillu Nillu"Raghava LawrenceTippu4:58
2."Sangili Bungili"VivekaVelmurugan3:56
3."Karuppu Perazaga"VivekaSuchith Suresan, Darshana KT5:00
4."Kodiavanin Kadhaya"VivekaSriram, MLR Karthikeyan and Malathy Lakshman4:19
Total length:18:13

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics.[6][7][8] Rediff wrote "It is torturous and tedious to watch, the chills and thrills are not spine-chilling and a soundtrack that is supposed to be eerie is anything but. There's quite a bit of unintended comedy too".[9] Great Andhra wrote "As for Lawrence, his intention was to target the mass audience and he has been fairly successful in his attempt as compared to his prequel by infusing good depth and emotional intensity".[10] Sify wrote:"On the whole, Kanchana is an entertaining affair and can be watched once".[11]

Box office

According to Sify, Kanchana emerged 2011's most successful Tamil film based on return on investment.[1] The film, made on a budget of ₹7 crore (US$880,000) and marketed for ₹1.5 crore (US$190,000), had its Telugu dubbing rights sold to Bellamkonda Suresh for ₹4 crore (US$500,000). The film was expected to gross ₹15 to 20 crore share from Tamil Nadu alone at the end of its run.[1]

Accolades

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
Vijay Awards
1st South Indian International Movie Awards

Sequel and remakes

In early 2012, sources claimed that Raghava Lawrence was planning to make a third part of Muni.[12][13][14] Furthermore, it was suggested that Lawrence's brother might play the lead role in the sequel. Instead, he danced with his brother in a cameo for the film. Eventually the third installment Kanchana 2[14] was released on 17 April 2015 and fourth installment Kanchana 3 was released on 19 April 2019 both were commercial success at the box office.

Rama Narayanan, who distributed the Tamil version directed the Kannada remake of the film titled Kalpana with Upendra playing lead role and Sai Kumar playing the transgender role and Lakshmi Rai reprising her role from the original film. It was released in September 2012.[15]

In the 2016 Sri Lankan remake, Maya, directed by Donald Jayantha, Ranjan Ramanayake played the role initially portrayed by Sarath Kumar as Kanchana.[16] It was unofficially remade as Tar Tay Gyi (2017) in Myanmar.[17] In 2017, the Bangladeshi remake of the film released titled Mayabini starring Symon Sadik and Airin Sultana.

Lawrence himself directed the Hindi remake titled Laxmii starring Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani. It released on the online streaming service Disney+ Hotstar on 9 November 2020.[18]

Legacy

The song "Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thora" inspired a 2017 film of same name starring Jiiva which was also based on the genre of horror-comedy.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lawrence`s Kanchana strikes gold". Sify. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  2. ↑ "Friday Fiesta 220711 - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "'Kanchana', a big hit than expected". IndiaGlitz. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  4. ↑ The New Indian Express - News on India, Politics, Business, Cricket &amp Sports
  5. ↑ Sheilah Wenning says (31 January 2012). "Kanchana Muni — Part 2 (2011) Tamil MP3 Songs, Soundtracks, Music Album Download". Download South MP3. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  6. ↑ "Kanchana review: Kanchana (Telugu) Movie Review — fullhyd.com". Movies.fullhyderabad.com. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Kanchana Review". Behindwoods. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  8. ↑ Ramachandran, Rohit (22 July 2011). "Kanchana Review". Nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  9. ↑ "Review: Kanchana is torture to watch". Rediff. 15 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  10. ↑ Published Date : 15-Jul-2011 06:33:45 GMT (15 July 2011). "'Kanchana' Review: Horror On Emotion". Greatandhra.com. Retrieved 24 June 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Movie Review : Kanchana". Sify. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "Will There Be A Muni 3?". Behindwoods. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  13. ↑ "Make way for 'Munni 3'! - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  14. 1 2 Anupama Subramaniam DC chennai (29 February 2012). "Lawrence gearing up for a sequel". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  15. ↑ Ramchander (3 November 2011). "Upendra to remake Kanchana?". Oneindia. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  16. ↑ Srinivasan, Meera (28 October 2017). "Now, Mersal finds a supporter in Sri Lanka". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "'New wave' directors take movie industry forward". Frontier Myanmar. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Akshay Kumar film Laxmmi Bomb to premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar". Indian Express. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "Director Atlee to fund a film called Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae". 10 March 2016.
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