Maari (film)

Maari
Film poster
Directed by	Balaji Mohan
Produced by	R. Sarathkumar Raadhika Sarathkumar Listin Stephen
Written by	Balaji Mohan
Starring	Dhanush Kajal Aggarwal Robo Shankar
Music by	Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematography	Om Prakash
Edited by	Prasanna G.K
Production company	Wunderbar Films Magic Frames
Distributed by	Magic Frames Escape Artists Motion Pictures
Release dates	Summer 2015
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Maari is an upcoming Tamil film written & directed by Balaji Mohan starring Dhanush and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles. The film is produced by Raadhika Sarathkumar and Listin Stephen under the banner of Magic Frames and co produced by Dhanush himself under the banner Wunderbar Films.

Anirudh Ravichander composed the film's soundtrack and score while Om Prakash undertook the film's cinematography. Production began in November 2014 after being in pre-production phase since March 2014. Principal photography began on 4 November 2014 and lasted till 15 March 2015. The film was shot in and around Chennai and Tuticorin. The film is scheduled for a summer 2015 release.

Cast

• Dhanush
• Kajal Aggarwal
• Vijay Yesudas
• Robo Shankar
• Kaali Venkat
• Arjunan
• Anirudh Ravichander (Cameo appearance)

Production

Development

The collaboration between Listin Stephen and Raadhika Sarathkumar‍‍ '​‍s production house and director Balaji Mohan was first revealed in early January 2014, with Dhanush and Kajal Aggarwal signed on to be a part of the "romantic entertainer".^[1] Mohan wanted the film not to be a bilingual like his previous ventures as he found the process difficult to shoot the same shot twice and to retain the same energy in both of them. He said in an interview in March 2014 that he narrated a one-liner to Dhanush, on whose consent, he would develop the complete script after releasing Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014), adding that this film would "definitely not a love story".^[2] Dhanush confirmed in early August 2014 that the project was in it's pre-production stages.^[3]

Anirudh Ravichander, who was supposed to work with Mohan for Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, was selected as the film's music director marking his third collaboration with Dhanush after 3 (2012) and Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014). Prasanna, an assistant of A. Sreekar Prasad, was signed in on as the film's editor while Om Prakash undertook the cinematography. Vijai Murugan was signed in on as the film's art director.^[4] Shortly after beginning the film's production, Mohan confirmed the film's title as Maari on 7 November 2014. The first look poster confirmed Dhanush as the film's co-producer.^[5]

Casting

Kajal Aggarwal (left) was engaged for the female lead role marking her first collaboration with Dhanush (right) after she walked out from Polladhavan (2007) due to scheduling conflicts.

Dhanush was initially rumoured to be seen as a tailor living in north-Madras in the film. Sources close to the film's unit later said that he would be seen as a local slum chieftain for which he had to speak in Madras accent.^[6] His character was later revealed to be a person who is in into pigeon racing, similar to the one he played in Aadukalam (2011) where he was seen as a person dealing with rooster fights.^[7] Kajal Aggarwal was signed in as the female lead during the film's initial stages of production though she joined the sets in November 2014. This marked her comeback to Tamil cinema after a gap of an year, her last Tamil film being Jilla (2014).^[8]

Kajal was supposed to work with Dhanush in Polladhavan (2007) and a photo shoot was also conducted by Vetrimaaran on them. She walked out from that project due to scheduling conflicts with another Telugu film Chandamama (2007).^[9] Dhanush insisted the makers to bring her on board to gain a foothold in Telugu cinema by cashing in on her stardom there.^[10] She said in an interview that she overcame her fear of birds due to her experiences with pigeons during the film's shoot.^[11] Robo Shankar, one of the cast of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, was signed in on for an important role.^[4]

South Indian playback singer Vijay Yesudas joined the team in December 2014 making his debut as an actor in Tamil cinema.^[12] He confirmed in late February 2015 that he would play the role of a police officer in the film.^[13] Anirudh made a cameo appearance in the film and joined its sets in mid March 2015.^[14]

Filming

Principal photography began on 4 November 2014 at T. Nagar in Chennai.^[4] Later, the film was reported to be kept on hold as the film's producers Magic Frames were facing shortage of funds. Dhanush denied those reports and confirmed that the film's second schedule began on 25 November 2014.^[15] By 11 December, 20 days of the film's shoot was done including a montage song.^[16] A special set was erected at Valasaravakkam, Chennai where portions of the film including a song and a fight sequence were shot for 20 days continuously from 23 December 2014.^[17]

By 8 January 2015, half of the film shoot was completed which included two songs. The team planned two short schedules, one before Pongal and one around 20 January 2015 for 5 days.^[18] Filming continued at a market area in Triplicane during early February 2015 and a similar set was erected in Chennai to shoot major portions of the film.^[6] The film's shoot was wrapped up by 21 February 2015 in four months.^[19] It was later known that 20% of the filming is remaining for which the film's team left for Tuticorin port to shoot the film's last schedule.^[20] The song "Thara Local Boys" featuring Dhanush and Anirudh was shot in mid March 2015.^[21] Dhanush confirmed the completion of principal photography on 15 March 2015 through his twitter page.^[22]

Music

Anirudh Ravichander composes the film's soundtrack which reportedly consists of four songs and a theme music with a local, earthy charm. Sony Music India is expected to release the soundtrack.^[23]

Release

The film is scheduled for a Summer 2015 release.^[24] The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV^[25]

References