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Maanagaram
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Maanagaram
| image = Maanagaram poster.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Lokesh Kanagaraj
| producer = S. R. Prabhu
Prabhu Venkatachalam
Gopinath
Thanga Prabaharan
| story =
| writer =
| screenplay = Lokesh Kanagaraj
| based_on =
| starring = Sri
Sundeep Kishan
Regina Cassandra
| narrator =
| music = Javed Riaz
| cinematography = Selvakumar S. K.
| editing = Philomin Raj
| studio = Potential Studios
| distributor = Potential Studios
| released =
| runtime = 137 minutes
| country = India
| language = Tamil
| budget = 4 crore
| gross = 10 crore
}}
'Maanagaram' is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language hyperlink action thriller film written and directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by S. R. Prabhu. The film stars Sri, Sundeep Kishan, and Regina Cassandra. The films soundtrack was composed by Javed Riaz.
Plot
Sri, an educated villager arrives in Chennai to attend an interview for a job in BPO. the HR officer selects Sri. Sundeep, who has been in love with Regina since college, but she does not reciprocate his feelings. On the day of the interview, Sundeep arrives at Regina's office and is threatened by a few goons stating that if she responds to him positively, they will throw acid on her face. They also revealed a girl's face and told him how the men threw acid on her because she didn't have an interest in the men. Enraged, Sundeep punches one of those men. Sri passes the interview and leaves for a bar with his friends; Meanwhile, Sundeep and the man are also in the same bar. The goons, who blackmailed Sundeep hires goons to thrash him and point at Sundeep who is wearing a red, checked, shirt. Sri steps out of the bar and mistakes him for the target, thrashes him and snatches his bag and phone. One of them throws the bag into a cab and keeps the phone.
Natraj, who is new to the city works as a cab driver and takes a rental car from PKP to earn money for his son suffering from asthma. Soon, he finds the certificates and gives them to the police station. Sri wakes up the next morning and finds himself lying on the road. He calls his friend, who takes him to his home. Sri leaves for his workplace to explain the missing-certificates situation. Meanwhile, Sundeep leaves to attend a job interview in Regina's company. He boards a bus where the man is also travelling. He plans an attack on the man with acid to give him a taste of his own medicine. Sri, (who is also on the same bus) unknowingly passes the acid bottle to Sundeep. Sundeep attack and runs away with his friends. The police take Sri into custody as he passed the acid bottle where an inspector bad-mouths him, but Sri defends himself which enrages the inspector, who thrashes him. A constable intervenes and takes Sri out to the nearby tea stall. As they are having a conversation, Sri finds a man, who told him to pass the acid bottle on the bus. Sri points the guy to the constable, who immediately takes him to the station.
The goons, who mistook Sri for Sundeep, formulate a plan to kidnap a child and ask for ransom. They send a man named Winnings to leave for the school and bring the child named Karthi, telling the teachers that Karthi's father Chinnamalai is ill and introduces himself as their driver, but when Winnings goes to the class and asks for Karthi, 5 boys stand up as they are all Karthi. Winnings trembles and fears getting caught, but a boy raises his hand, saying he is Karthi. The gang realize that the boy volunteered to go with Winnings, only to skip a Maths test and is PKP's son. Sri heads to the office, and lets Regina know that he does not want the job, and walks away. Regina asks him to take the training as she will be held responsible if he quits the job. They have an argument in the waiting hall. Sundeep, who is also in the waiting hall for his interview, intervenes. Just then, the cops arrive and take him along with them. Regina is saddened as she loved Sundeep, but cannot accept his feelings due to his carefree nature. Sri tells Regina about his lost certificates, who tells that she can manage for a day and asks him to bring the certificates.
PKP orders his men to start hunting down his enemies to search for Karthi. The gang calls PKP and tells him to bring to get Karthi and follow their instructions. PKP relents and follows their orders. Sundeep is released as the inspector is his uncle. He then heads to the bus stop outside Regina's hostel and waits to meet her. At midnight, Regina and Sri leave the office and get into a cab driven by Charle and Regina leaves as she reached her destination. As Regina goes to meet Sundeep, she sees Karthi (who escaped from the gang) hiding in a small truck and asks him for his father's number. She instructs Sundeep to drop Karthi at his house. Sundeep calls PKP to tell his son is with him, but is not able to convey the message as his phone is switched off. He then meets the inspector, who asks him to leave Karthi with him. The inspector asks Karthi to wait in the jeep. Winnings, who has also escaped from the gang fearing that PKP will kill him, is also in the jeep. Winnings tells the truth to the inspector. The inspector commands Winnings to call PKP to get Karthi with the ransom money. PKP arrives and finds Winnings pointing a gun at Karthi.
At that time, Sundeep arrives and understands the situation. Eventually, the inspector shoots PKP and plans to shoot Winnings as well. However, Sundeep shoots at the inspector's leg and instructs Winnings to take PKP and Karthi to the hospital. At the same time, Charle and Sri, who are traveling in PKP's rental car, are stopped by the gang and attacked as the gang suspects PKP has sent them to spy on the gang. They hit Charle and ask Sri to bring PKP or they'll kill Charle. Sri, who knows Charle has a sick son and is waiting for him at the hospital, decides to take the blame so that Charle can visit his son. Sri recognizes the gang, who attacked him outside the bar, and hits them back. He takes Charle to the hospital with Sundeep's help. Sri's lost certificates are returned to his home address by the head constable of Sundeep's uncle's police station. Sri and Sundeep talk to their respective girlfriends. Sundeep approaches Sri, who thanks him for the lift. When they are about to reveal their names, A gang who was hired by the man whom Sundeep punched previously challenges them for a fight. Sundeep and Sri charge toward the gang to defend themselves.
Cast
*Sri
*Sundeep Kishan
*Regina Cassandra
*Charle as the taxi driver
*Munishkanth as Winnings
*Madhusudhan as PKP
*Ravivenkat as the inspector
*Arun Alexander as a gangster
*Sha-Ra as a kidnapping gang member
*Sathish as a kidnapping gang member
*Dheena as PKP's main henchman
*Karthik Yogi as Sri's friend
*Master Hamresh as a kidnapped boy
Production
In April 2015, Sundeep Kishan began working on the project being directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by S. R. Prabhu's production house Potential Studios. Sundeep had earlier expressed an interest in producing the film himself, but later became busy with other commitments. Lokesh had previously worked as a director in Karthik Subbaraj's anthology film project, 'Aviyal' (2016), in which his short film 'Kalam' was included. The story was discussed with associate directors Maharajothi, Krisha, Archana and Gopi and titled 'Maanagaram' and revealed to be a dark comedy thriller, actor Sri and Regina Cassandra were signed on to play other lead roles in the film, with filming beginning later that month. Actors Charle and Munishkanth were also subsequently signed on to play pivotal roles, and the project was completed by September 2015. The film was revealed to be based on hyperlink cinema with Regina's role constant throughout the film. The film was shot and completed within a period of 46 days. Potential Studios begun promoting the film in February 2016, but later postponed efforts until early 2017 to get a better date for a theatrical release.
Music
The film's score and soundtrack was composed by Javed Riaz. The album was released on 22 August 2016 as part of Madras Day celebrations. Riaz previously collaborated with Kanagaraj for a segment in 'Aviyal'. The song "Yendi Unna Pidikkuthu" was praised.
Release
'Maanagaram' was released on 10 March 2017 and received positive reviews from critics.
Prior to release, the producers held preview shows for the film in Chennai. Both screenings were attended by film personalities, who widely praised the film.
The film had a simultaneous release for its Telugu dubbed version, 'Nagaram', while the Hindi dubbed version, 'Dadagiri 2', was released in 2019 by Goldmines Telefilms. In 2020,The film is dubbed into Malayalam as 'Metro City'.
Reception
Box office
The film became a commercial success at the box office, with screens being increased in its second week after it gained positive word-of-mouth reviews. After release, several other Tamil film personalities including Rajinikanth and Suriya voiced their praise for the film.Critical response
The Deccan Chronicle called the film "an absorbing emotional thriller that is a must-watch", adding "with a solid story, deft handling and a seamless screenplay (despite a complex script), extracting the best of performances from the entire cast, picture-perfect frames (Selvakumar), engrossing music (Javed Riaz) and crisp editing (Philomin Raj), Lokesh has weaved a captivating thriller which is not to be missed". The satellite rights of the film were sold to STAR Vijay. Sify.com also stated "'Maanagaram' is a gripping film that seizes your full attention" and that it was "one of most genuine films in recent times". Similarly, a critic from The Times of India noted "director Lokesh Kanagaraj gives us an exquisite, even-handed thriller handsomely shot, tightly edited and propped up by a grungy score that unobtrusively makes its points while narrating a gripping story". S. Shivakumar of 'The Hindu' opined that "Each scene makes you eagerly await the next with a climax that is befitting". Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "The air-tight deliberateness of this structure is given room to breathe by the randomness of the characters, who behave in ways we dont expect."Accolades
Remake
The film is being remade in Hindi as 'Mumbaikar' by Santhosh Sivan with Vikrant Massey, Hridhu Haroon, and Tanya Maniktala playing the lead roles. Vijay Sethupathi will reprise Munishkanth's role in the film.
Notes
References
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