Muni 2: Kanchana

Kanchana
Kanchana Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Raghava Lawrence
Produced by	Raghava Lawrence
Written by	Raghava Lawrence
Starring	Raghava Lawrence Sarathkumar Lakshmi Rai Kovai Sarala Devadarshini Sriman
Music by	Thaman
Cinematography	Vetri Krishnasamy
Editing by	Kishore Te.
Studio	Raghavendra Productions
Distributed by	Sri Thenandal Films
Release dates	22 July 2011 (2011-07-22)
Running time	170 mins
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	9 crore[1][2]

Kanchana (Tamil: காஞ்சனா–முனி-2) is a 2011 Tamil comedy horror film directed, written and produced by Raghava Lawrence as a prequel to his previous venture, Muni (2007). The film features himself in the lead role with Sarathkumar in titular character and Lakshmi Rai in other roles. The film released on 22 July 2011,^[3] while a dubbed same-titled Telugu version was released a week earlier in Andhra Pradesh. In spite of mixed reviews from critics, the film became a commercial success in both languages.^[2][4][5] Now it is also going to remake in Sinhala in Sri Lanka and the unusual lead character is going to be portrayed by Ranjan Ramanayake.

Plot

Raghava (Raghava Lawrence) is a typical jobless youth who spends his day playing cricket with his friends and beating up antisocial elements. However, he suffers from an irrational fear of ghosts, and retreats to the safety of his home after sunset. So great is his fear, that he prefers to sleep with his mother (Kovai Sarala) and have her accompany him to the bathroom at night. This creates major annoyance in the household, which is also populated by Raghava's brother (Sriman), sister-in-law (Devadarshini) and their children.

One day, Raghava and his friends are forced to abandon their usual cricket ground and find a new one; they unwittingly select an abandoned ground which is rumored to be haunted. When they attempt to set up their game kit, a bizarre weather change scares them away. Raghava brings home his cricket stumps, which have been stained with blood from a buried corpse in the ground. Raghava forgets the incident and focuses on wooing Priya (Lakshmi Rai), the sister of his sister-in-law, who has come by on a visit. In the following days, his mother and sister-in-law are witness to several paranormal phenomena at night; prominently a ghostly apparition haunting the hallways. On consulting a temple priest, they perform three rituals to ascertain if the house is haunted. At the end of their rituals, their fears are confirmed, and a ghost of a woman appears before them.

Scared senseless, Raghava's mother and sister-in-law hire two priests (Mayilsamy and Manobala) to rid their home of the ghost. The priests, however, are conmen who assure them that they've banished the ghost, and escape with their lives after being thrashed by the ghost. That night, the ghost enters Raghava's body and possesses him. Soon Raghava begins acting increasingly effeminate, alienating himself from Priya before she leaves and wearing women's clothes and jewelry. His family angrily confronts him about his behaviour, when it is revealed that there are actually three ghosts who have possessed him: a violent woman, a Hindi-speaking Muslim, and a mentally retarded boy. After they cause havoc in the house, Raghava's family hires an exorcist, who successfully drives the spirit away from Raghava's body. The ghost of the woman, trapped, reveals her story.

Kanchana (Sarathkumar) is a transgender who was disowned by her parents due to her effeminate behaviour. She is offered shelter by a kind Muslim (Babu Antony), who has a mentally retarded son. Regretting that she couldn't become a doctor as she intended, she adopts another young transgender, Geetha, and works hard to support her financially. When Geetha leaves to study medicine abroad, Kanchana buys a plot of land where Geetha intended to construct a hospital for the poor. That ground is unlawfully taken by crooked MLA Shankar (Devan). Kanchana angrily confronts the MLA, who cunningly kills her. He also kills Babu Antony and his son when they try to help her. Before she died, she vowed to kill Shankar, his wife, and his henchmen. The bodies are then buried in Kanchana's own ground (from where the ghosts entered Raghava's household via the stumps).

The exorcist sympathizes with her, but remains duty-bound and traps her. After hearing her story, Raghava is touched; risking the danger he possessed danger himself and he willingly defies the exorcist's orders and allows Kanchana to possess him once again. Raghava/Kanchana confronts the MLA at a beach at midnight, and disposes of his henchmen gruesomely. The MLA seeks refuge in a Narasimha temple which Kanchana is forbidden from; but she asks the deity for justice and manages to chase him inside the temple. The three spirits combined kill the MLA by tearing him apart. The final scene takes place a few years later, where Raghava has constructed the hospital for Geetha as per Kanchana's wishes. It is revealed that Kanchana exists symbiotically in Raghava's body, to help him out when the need rises.

Cast

• Raghava Lawrence as Raghava
• Sarath Kumar as Kanchana
• Lakshmi Rai as Priya
• Sriman as Raghava's brother
• Devan as MLA Shankar
• Babu Antony as Bhai
• Kovai Sarala as Raghava´s mother
• Devadarshini as Kamakshi
• Priya as Geetha
• Manobala as priest (Cameo)
• Mayilsamy as priest (Cameo)

Soundtrack

The film's original soundtrack has been composed by S. Thaman.^[6]

Reception

Critical response

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".^[7] Greatandhra 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".^[8] Sify wrote:"On the whole, Kanchana is an entertaining affair and can be watched once".^{[9][10][11][12]}

Box office

According to Sify, Kanchana emerged 2011's most successful Tamil film based on return on investment.^[2] Its publicity cost was 1.5 crore, while its Telugu dubbing rights were sold to Bellamkonda Suresh for 4 crore. The film grossed a share of 20 crore at the end of its run.^[2] The film completed 50-day run at the box office.^[13] the film eventually completed 100 days and became a super hit

Awards

Vijay Awards

• Best Supporting Actor - R. Sarathkumar
• Best Female Comedian - Kovai Sarala

1st South Indian International Movie Awards

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Sarathkumar

Prequel

Muni is the prequel of Muni:2 Kanchana this film released on March 9, 2007.

Sequel and remakes

In early 2012, sources claimed that Raghava Lawrence was planning to make a third part of Muni.^[14][15][16] Furthermore, it was suggested that Lawrence's brother might play the lead role in the sequel. Muni 3: Ganga^[16]

It has also been reported that Lawrence will be directing a Hindi remake of Kanchana with Shahrukh Khan in the lead, making his Bollywood directorial debut. Initially, Lawrence wanted to cast Salman Khan in the film, but the rumors were denied. Sanjay Dutt will be playing an important character as well.^[17] Rama Narayanan, who distributed the Tamil version has directed the Kannada remake of the film titled Kalpana with Upendra playing lead role and Sai Kumar playing the role of transgender and Lakshmi Rai playing the same role which was released in September 2012.^[18] In Sinhalese remake of Kanchana, Ranjan Ramanayake is playing the role initially portrayed by Sarath Kumar as Kanchana.^[19]

References

External links

• Muni 2: Kanchana at the Internet Movie Database