Kanchana 2

Kanchana 2[1]
First look
Directed by	Raghava Lawrence
Produced by	Raghava Lawrence Bellamkonda Suresh
Written by	Raghava Lawrence
Starring	Raghava Lawrence Taapsee Pannu Nithya Menen Kovai Sarala
Music by	Leon James C. Sathya S. Thaman Ashwamithra
Cinematography	Rajavel Olhiveeran
Production company	Raghavendra Productions
Distributed by	Sun Pictures (Tamil) Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions (Telugu)
Release dates	17 April 2015[2]
Running time	165 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil Telugu

Kanchana 2^[1] is a 2015 Tamil horror comedy film written and directed by Raghava Lawrence, who also plays the lead role.^[3] It is the third installment in the Muni franchise, following Muni and Muni 2: Kanchana. The film was initially titled Muni 3 before it was changed to Kanchana 2.^[1] The film, featuring Taapsee, Nithya Menen, Kovai Sarala and Jayaprakash in other pivotal roles, released worldwide on 17 April 2015. The Telugu version Ganga was released on 1 May 2015.^[4]

Cast

• Raghava Lawrence as Raghava/Motta Shiva
• Taapsee as Nandhini
• Nithya Menen as Ganga
• Kovai Sarala as Raghava's mother
• Jayaprakash as Marudhu
• Rajendran as Marudhu's brother
• Manobala as Arnold
• Mayilsamy as Mayil
• Sriman as Dr. Prasad
• Renuka as Nandhini's sister in law
• Pooja Ramachandran as Pooja
• Jangiri Madhumitha as Aishwarya
• Suhasini Maniratnam

Production

Raghava Lawrence began work on the third installment in the Muni franchise in 2012, then titled Muni 3: Ganga. He said that he had two different storylines for the sequel.^[5] Amy Jackson was roped in to play the female lead but due to date problems, she was replaced by Pranitha Subhash. Later, Pranitha was replaced with Taapsee.^[5] Anjali was signed up for a cameo role,^[6] but she was later replaced by Nithya Menen.^[7] It was reported that Lawrence would introduce his brother Vino in the film, who would dance in one song.^[8] He was reported to be appearing in six different looks in the film.^[9] Pooja Ramachandran was roped in who stated that she plays the role of an anchor, who is a drama queen.^[10] In October 2013, Lawrence injured himself while filming and the making of the film was stopped for over three months.^[11] The film was in production for over two years.^[12]

Release

The film was released on 17 April 2015 in around 750 screens worldwide alongside Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani.^[13]. Telugu version released on May 1st 2015, Got good reviews^[14] .

Critical reception

Kanchana 2 opened to positive reviews from critics.

The Times of India gave 3 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The comedy is broad and low-brow, banking on gay humour and the reactions of the characters when they are spooked by the presence of the ghost. It becomes too childish at times but you laugh nevertheless...the film does what it promises — we chuckle, cower, cry and at times, cringe".^[15] Behindwoods gave the film 2.75 out of 5 stars and said, "Looks like Lawrence has mastered the genre, so well that he knows how to keep the audience at the edge of their seats. His creative imagination has made this film different from the usual horror comedy films".^[16] Rediff rated the film 2.5 on 5, calling it "an enjoyable film" and wrote, "The plot may be out of date and the comedy absurd, but the antics of the familiar characters and their enthusiasm make you laugh despite yourself".^[17] Sify wrote, "Kanchana 2 is no different from Lawrence's earlier horror comedies...The formula is the same - mix crass comedy with lots of horror, dead person's spirit getting into hero/heroine body, slapstick humour, glamour, melodrama, ladies sentiments, fight scenes...Add five songs, haunted house, scream and wailing sounds, it works".^[18]

Indo-Asian News Service gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "The movie, which follows a very cliched and dated format of horror template, suffers heavily due to the lack of a good story" and called it "undoubtedly a weak film in the franchise".^[19] The Hindu wrote, "The acting isn’t the problem; the predictable story is...Kanchana-3, which is hinted at before the end credits, needs to do better if the franchise has to survive".^[20]

Box office

Kanchana 2 was declared a 'Super Hit' in its first weekend itself.^[21]

Domestic

On its first day, the film grossed 5.77 crore (US$920,000) nett in Tamil Nadu alone^[22] and around 10 crore (US$1.6 million) worldwide.^[13] The film had a "phenomenal" opening, earning 10.83 crore (US$1.7 million) nett in Tamil Nadu in two days.^[23] Kanchana 2 earned 17.5 crore (US$2.8 million) nett in Tamil Nadu in its opening weekend. The film netted 1.55 crore (US$250,000) in Karnataka, 88 lakh (US$140,000) in Kerala and 22 lakh (US$35,000) from the rest of India.^[21] In Chennai alone, the film made 1.31 crore (US$210,000) in three days.^[24]

The film did exceptional business in Tamil Nadu, earning 40 crore (US$6.3 million) nett in ten days, prompting the trade to call it a 'Blockbuster'.^[25]

Overseas

The film opened with 6.87 lakh (US$11,000) in the USA. In UK and Ireland, the film made 23.74 lakh (US$38,000) in the opening weekend. In Malaysia, the film had a very good opening, grossing 1.36 crore (US$220,000) in its first 3 days.^[26]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features five songs composed by C. Sathya, S. Thaman, Ashwamithra and debutant Leon James, with the latter contributing two songs to the album.^[27]

References

External links

• Kanchana 2 at the Internet Movie Database