Muni (film)
| Muni | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Raghava Lawrence |
| Written by | Ramesh Khanna (Dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | Raghava Lawrence |
| Story by | Raghava Lawrence |
| Produced by | Saran |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | K. V. Guhan |
| Edited by | Suresh Urs |
| Music by | Original songs: Bharadwaj Background Score: S. P. Venkatesh |
Production company | Gemini Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 153 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Muni (transl. Sage) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film directed by Raghava Lawrence and produced by Gemini Productions. The film stars Rajkiran in the titular role,[a] alongside Raghava, Vedhika, Vinu Chakravarthy, Kovai Sarala, Kadhal Dhandapani, Rahul Dev, Naasar, Delhi Ganesh, Meera Krishnan and Scissor Manohar. It is the first installment in the Muni film series, and a spiritual sequel, Kanchana, was released in 2011. The film follows Ganesh, a young man with phasmophobia, who gets possessed by Muniyandi "Muni" who tries to kill Dhandapani after he tricked and killed him.
Muni released on 9 March 2007 along with a Telugu dubbed version of same name and gained positive reviews and huge box office collections.[1]
Plot
[edit]Ganesh, a young man with a deep fear of ghosts who refuses go out after 6PM, moves into a new house with his mother, father, and wife Priya. All of a sudden, Ganesh is possessed by a ghost and starts behaving in a rude manner; his family cannot understand his behaviour, so they seek the help of a priest named Andaiyar. Andaiyar asks the ghost about his past. The ghost says that he is Muniyaandi and starts revealing his flashback.
Muni was a kindhearted but poor man living in the slums with his daughter. His friend is MLA Marakka Dhandapani, who uses Muni to win local elections and promises that he would give lands to the poor villagers. Dhandapani wins the election but cheats Muni. Muni fights with Dhandapani, who kills Muni and his daughter. Dhandapani lies to the poor people by saying that Muni and his daughter fled with the money that he had given Muni for the welfare of the villagers.
After hearing muni's story Ganesh feels sorry for him and decides to help him, Ganesh requests andaiyar to lie to his family that ghost has left and andaiyar agrees. Ganesh now possessed by Muni manages to get job as a bodyguard for Dhandapani's daughter but after he brutally kills Dhandapani's brother dhandapani finds out that Ganesh is Muni and hires an exorcist named Mastaan Bhai to save himself. Bhai captures Muni and bargains with him, who agrees to let Dhandapani go if he repents and helps the poor villagers. In the climax, at Ayyanaar temple, Dhandapani confesses to the people that he killed Muni and his daughter. He then leaves money with the villagers. Muni talks with the people and eats the feast prepared by them. Bhai tells Muni to leave Ganesh's body, and he does. However, Dhandapani lied and was planning to get back all his money from the villagers. Ganesh, upon hearing this, kills Dhandapani. Bhai sees this act but does nothing, as he finally sees the injustice done by Dhandapani.
Cast
[edit]- Raghava Lawrence as Ganesh
- Rajkiran as Muniyandi/Muni
- Vedhika as Priya Ganesh
- Vinu Chakravarthy as Kandasamy
- Kovai Sarala as Kannamma
- Kadhal Dhandapani as MLA Dhandapani
- Rahul Dev as Mastan Bhai
- Nassar as Andaiyar
- Delhi Ganesh as Priya's father
- Meera Krishnan as Priya's mother
- Scissor Manohar as House Broker
- Neelima Naidu as Chandramukhi
- Bianca Desai
- Bala Singh
- Vadivelu David as Murugesan
- Kallukkul Eeram Ramanathan
- Pudhupettai Suresh as Dhandapani's Brother
- Citizen Mani
- Asha
- Kavya
- Rangammal
- Kavithan Rajamohan
Music
[edit]The soundtrack was composed by Bharadwaj.[2][3]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Assah Pussah" | Pa. Vijay | Karthik, Priya Himesh | 4.16 |
| 2. | "Suru Suru Susuravarthi" | Raghava Lawrence | Ranjith, Anuradha Sriram | 4.19 |
| 3. | "Gulla Gulla Dracula" | Pa. Vijay | Bharadwaj | 4.24 |
| 4. | "Varranda Muni" | Pa. Vijay | Mukesh | 3.54 |
| 5. | "Thalai Suthuthey Mami – Version 1" | Raghava Lawrence | Bharadwaj, Kavitha | 4.50 |
| 6. | "Thalai Suthuthey Mami – Version 2" | Raghava Lawrence | Raghava Lawrence | 4.11 |
| Total length: | 25:54 | |||
Reception
[edit]Sify wrote, "On the whole, Muni does not make for great horror film. At best it provides some funny comedy time!!".[4] IndiaGlitz.com wrote, "Larencce has packaged the end product with the right elements. It is certainly a colourful treat for the audience".[5] Behindwoods wrote, "Muni is not a movie that you cannot afford to give a miss. It’s not a classic but it is different, daringly and scaring".[6] Chennai Online wrote "Lawrence's Telugu ventures were better crafted and presented. He hasn't revealed even half that potential here. Again, the attempt to blend comedy with the supernatural doesn't quite work out here. For, the film neither makes you laugh nor takes you to the edge of your seat. Minus it's gore and violence, 'Muni' at most could have turned out to be enjoyable fare for children!".[7] Lajjavathi of Kalki praised the acting of Rajkiran and Lawrence and other actors, Bharadwaj's music and Ramesh Khanna's dialogues and called the film as comedy express.[8]
Sequels
[edit]The success of the film spawned four sequels.
Notes
[edit]- ^ Although Raghava Lawrence stars in the lead role, Rajkiran plays the titular role.
References
[edit]- ^ "'Muni' completes talkie part". IndiaGlitz. 28 December 2006. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ Karthik (12 January 2007). "Muni (Tamil – Bharadwaj)". Milliblog!. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Muni (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ "Muni". Sify. 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
- ^ "Muni Review – Three cheers to Saran and Larencce". IndiaGlitz.com. 9 March 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ "Muni: 'Thrill Bill': The Fear Factor". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Mannath, Malini (26 March 2007). "Muni". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ லஜ்ஜாவதி (1 April 2007). "முனி". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 65. Retrieved 17 August 2024 – via Internet Archive.
External links
[edit]- Muni at IMDb
- Muni at Rotten Tomatoes
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