''Massu Engira Masilamani'' (; previously titled as ''Masss'') or simply known as ''Massu'' is a 2015 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-language

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

horror comedy film Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

directed by

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian film director, actor and playback singer in Tamil cinema. In addition, he also worked in Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. After completing ...

, who co-wrote the script with

Madhan Karky Madhan Karky Vairamuthu is an Indian lyricist, screenwriter, research associate, software engineer, and entrepreneur. A holder of a doctorate in computer science from the University of Queensland, Karky began his professional career as an as ...

. It was produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja's

Studio Green Studio Green is an Indian film production and distribution company based in Chennai. The company was founded in 2006 by K. E. Gnanavel Raja, relative of actor Sivakumar and many of their films feature his sons Suriya and Karthi. They have pr ...

and Aadnah Arts. The film stars

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

in dual roles, alongside

Nayanthara Nayanthara (born Diana Mariam Kurian; 18 November 1984) is an Indian actress and producer known for her work in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu and Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she ...

Pranitha Subhash Pranitha Subhash (born 17 October 1992) is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam films. She debuted as an actress in the 2010 Kannada film, '' Porki''. In 2012, she starred in the critically acclaimed fi ...

, Premgi,

Parthiban Radhakrishnan Parthiban (born 15 November 1957) is an Indian actor and film director who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 16 films, produced 14 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for ...

, and

Samuthirakani P. Samuthirakani (born 26 April 1973) is an Indian actor and film director who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. He worked as an assistant to director K. Balachander, in '' Paarthale Paravasam''. He won the National F ...

. It follows Masss, a con artist, who starts interacting with ghosts. During one such encounter, he stumbles upon Shakthi, a ghost who wants to seek revenge against his family's killers. The film was launched in April 2014, and the

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

commenced in July 2014 and was completed in April 2015. Filming took place in various locations in India and Bulgaria. The film's title ''Masss'', was announced in July 2014; however, in order to receive exemption from entertainment tax, the film's title was changed to ''Massu Engira Masilamani''. The cinematography was handled by R. D. Rajasekhar and

Sakthi Saravanan Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer who works in Tamil and Telugu cinema. He is best known for his handheld and gritty work with Venkat Prabhu and M. Rajesh directorials. Praveen K. L. Kuchipudi Latha Praveen (born 1987 or 1988)Vaibhav Shastry"Would love to work with Anurag Kashyap: Praveen K L" ''Times of India, March 11, 2012. is an Indian film editor, who works predominantly in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and English f ...

The original score and soundtrack were composed by

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...

, with

S. Thaman Ghantasala Sai Srinivas Sivakumar (born 16 November 1983), professionally credited as Thaman S, is an Indian composer and playback singer known for his works majorly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He is the recipient of the National Film Award f ...

as the guest composer. The film was released worldwide on 29 May 2015. A

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

dubbed version, titled ''Rakshasudu'', was released simultaneously in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

and

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics and received praise for Surya's performance. The film was later remade in Bengali as '' Naqaab'' (2018), starring

Shakib Khan Masud Rana Sheikh (born 28 March 1979), better known by the stage name Shakib Khan, is a Bangladeshi actor and filmmaker who works in Bengali language, Bengali films. He is widely regarded as one of the most popular figures of all time in Benga ...

Nusrat Jahan Nusrat Jahan Ruhi (born 8 January 1990) is an Indian actress, producer and politician who predominantly works in Bengali cinema. Beside the acting career, from 2019 to 2024, Jahan has represented as the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Ba ...

and

Sayantika Banerjee Sayantika Banerjee is an Indian actress who is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has been praised by the critics for her acting and dance skills. In 2012 she was in the Bengali film '' Awara'', which was commercially successful. She j ...

Plot

A released prisoner named Kamal Ekambaram murders former

Police Commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Shanmuga Sundaram during a morning jog. On the other hand, Masilamani alias Masss and his friend Jet Li (Jettu) are small-time

con artists A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibili ...

. Masss meets Manini, a nurse, and they subsequently fall in love. While trying to escape after a heist goes wrong, Masss and Jettu meet with a car accident, after which Masss starts seeing dead people with whom he can communicate. Jettu died in the accident and is now a ghost, too. Masss forms a group of loitering ghosts to earn money by performing fake

exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be do ...

s and extorting money from scared, rich people while promising the spirits that he would, in exchange, fulfil their last wishes. Meanwhile, Manini, who thought Masss was working for a finance company, discovers the fake exorcisms and leaves him. The same day, Masss and Jettu meet a ghost called Shakthivel (Shakthi), a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

man from

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and a lookalike of Masss. Shakthi seemingly helps the duo by informing them about

hawala Hawala or hewala ( , meaning ''transfer'' or sometimes ''trust''), originating in India as havala (), also known as in Persian, and or in Somali, is a popular and informal value transfer system based on the performance and honour of a hug ...

black money stashed in a locker by Anthony Xavier, a hawala

broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...

, in his warehouse at Sembikarai but has other plans in mind and wants to use Masss for that. He sabotages their plan and tricks Masss into running over Anthony while Kamal arrives and steals the money from the locker in the resulting chaos. Corrupt ACP Vikram Lakshman takes charge, investigates the case, and learns Masss is involved in the murder. Subsequently, the ghosts start striking against Masss as they assume that he is just using them to cheat later on. Masss yells at them and orders them to leave. Just then, Shakthi arrives at the request of the ghosts. They depart with Shakthi while Jettu manages to convince Masss. Masss agrees and fulfils the ghosts' wishes so they attain salvation, which makes him a better person. All these good deeds of Masss change Manini's assumptions of him positively. At the same time, Shakthi uses Masss to meet another person, Madhivadhanan alias Madhi, an MLA and associate of Anthony at his quarry and later uses him to kill Madhi. Masss, furious with Shakthi for making him a double murderer, yells at him to leave, threatening to commit suicide.While escaping the quarry with Jettu, Masss encounters R. K., alias Radha Krishnan, Anthony and Madhi's partner, who gets reminded of Shakthi, and orders his men to catch Masss. Kamal arrives there and rescues him, and later he reveals Shakthi's past, where Masss realises that Shakthi is his father. Past: Shakthi was a

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

and a

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjective for ...

, who married Anuradha (Anu), a teacher at his daughter Megha's school, just for Megha's wish. Shakthi secretly learned that Anu loves and takes care of Megha. Soon, they both fell in love, and Anu gave birth to a son (Masss). Anu owns an acre of land in India, which she wanted to donate to an orphanage where they could build a new orphanage. Kamal, the only family friend of Anu residing in India, agreed to help with the registration. Shakthi and Anu, along with Megha and infant Masss, arrived in India to complete the registration but learned that

industrialists A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

R. K. and Anthony forged documents and planned to take the land away to construct flats. Since Shakthi remained undeterred and did not give way, R. K., Anthony, Madhi, and Sundaram, along with their goons, killed Shakthi, Anu, and Megha and pinned the murders on Kamal, for which he got imprisoned for all these years. Masss survived because Megha had left him safe in an impoverished family's small house nearby. Present: Through Masss, Shakthi wanted to kill the people responsible for his family's demise. After discovering the truth, Masss plans to kill R. K. himself. R. K., knowing who Masss is, tries to kill him, but Kamal saves Masss. However, because R. K. hits Masss on the head with a fire extinguisher, he loses the ability to see and converse with the spirits. With the help of Vikram, whom Masss bribed to double-cross R. K., Masss finally kills R. K. As Masss fulfils Shakthi's last wish, he obtains salvation and joins Anu and Megha in heaven. In the

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...

, Masss, now a reformed man in a respectable position, has married Manini and has a young son, Shakthi (named after his grandfather), who has the ability to see and converse with ghosts, while Jettu remains on Earth with Masss and his family, accompanying Shakthi at all times.

Cast

in a dual role as **Masilamani, alias "Masss", a con artist with a supernatural ability to see and communicate with ghosts and Shakthi's son ** Shakthivel (Shakthi), a

man from

, a

officer in

, Quebec, and Masss's father *

as Manini, a nurse, Masss's love interest later wife, who leaves him after discovering he was cheating people but later after knowing his good deeds reconciles with him (voice dubbed by

Savitha Reddy Savitha Radhakrishnan is an Indian voice actor. Career Radhakrishnan made her debut as a child voice actor in a film for Sujitha and continued for many movies as a voice actor in both Tamil and Telugu movies. She later as a teen dubbed for ...

) *

as Anuradha "Anu", Shakthi's wife, Masss's mother, and Megha's teacher and stepmother who died saving Megha and infant Masss (voice dubbed by Renuka Kathir) *

Premji Mullamangalath Parameshwaran Bhattathiripad (23 September 1908 – 10 August 1998), commonly known as M. P. Bhatathirippad or Premji, was a social reformer, cultural leader and actor from Kerala state, India. Premji joined Yogakshema Sabha ...

as Jet Li "Jettu", Masss's best friend who dies in an accident and becomes a ghost * R. Parthiban as ACP Vikram Lakshman lPS, a corrupt police officer from Sembikkarai who investigates the case and double-crosses R. K. *

Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu language, Telugu and Kannada cinema, Kannada films, as well ...

as Kamal Ekambaram, Anu's family friend and an escaped prisoner who reveals Shakthi's past to Masss *

as Radha Krishnan "R. K.", a real estate owner who, along with his accomplices, kills Shakthi, Anu, and Megha *

Sharath Lohitashwa Sharatchandra Lohithaswa (born 5 May 1972), known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Kannada cinema alongside some Tamil and Telugu films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continue ...

as Anthony Xavier, R. K.'s partner and a hawala broker *

Charles Vinoth Charles Vinoth is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a supporting actor. Career After completing his education, Vinoth briefly began a career in shipping before losing passion in the area. Vinoth has since been a regul ...

as MLA Madhivadhanan "Madhi", R. K. and Anthony's henchman *

Subbu Panchu Subramaniam Panchu Arunachalam, credited as Subbu Panchu or P. Ar. Subramaniam (born 20 November 1969), is an Indian actor and film producer. Son of noted writer-producer Panchu Arunachalam, Subbu first appeared as a child artist in the Malayal ...

Shanmuga Sundaram, R. K. and Anthony's henchman who Kamal murders * Jayaprakash as Kothandaram Reddy *

Sayaji Shinde Sayaji Shinde (Marathi pronunciation: əjaːd͡ʒiː ʃin̪d̪eː born 13 January 1959) is an Indian actor who has acted in Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Gujarati, Hindi, and Bhojpuri films. Sayaji started his act ...

as Amarnath Shinde *

Aravind Akash Aravind Akash is an Indian actor and dancer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. He rose to fame through 2002 Malayalam film '' Nandanam'' portraying the role of Unnikrishnan. He has also been a judge for a few TV shows in M ...

as Anthony's henchman *

Yuvina Parthavi Yuvina Parthavi is an Indian actress who has appeared in predominantly Tamil and Kannada films and commercials. She was introduced as a child actress in AVM Productions television serial ''Uravukku Kai Koduppom'' (2011), before making a breakt ...

as Megha, Shakthi's daughter, Masss's half sister *

Karunas Karunas (born as Karunanidhi Sethu; February 21, 1970) is an Indian actor, comedian, composer, playback singer and politician in the Tamil film industry. Appearing mostly in supporting roles, he has also played main lead roles in films includ ...

as Azhagu (ghost) * Sriman as Salesman Sripathy (ghost) *

Rethika Srinivas Rethika Srinivas is an Indian actress who appears in Tamil films. Career Rethika graduated with a degree in electronic engineering from SRM University, before pursuing a master's degree in media studies in the United Kingdom. She subsequently ...

as Padma (ghost) *

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

as Chinna (ghost) *

Bose Venkat Bose Venkat (born 4 February 1976) is an Indian actor, director and dubbing artist who appears in Tamil films and television serials. Personal life Venkat is married to actress Sonia in 2003. Career Venkat came to Chennai at the age of 17, h ...

as Periyamuthu (ghost) *

Rajendran Arunachalam Rajendran, also known as A. Rajendran (born 1 June 1957) and better known/credited as Mottai Rajendran or ''Naan Kadavul'' Rajendran, is an Indian stunt double and actor working mainly in Tamil cinema. He debuted in 2003 with the Ta ...

as a ghost * Sanjay Bharathi as a ghost *

Daniel Annie Pope Daniel Annie Pope is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. After appearing in uncredited and minor roles, he made his breakthrough as an actor with his comic role in ''Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara'' (2013). Career Da ...

as a ghost *

Shanmugasundaram Shanmugasundaram was an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in '' Ratha Thilagam'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He ...

as a ghost *

Swaminathan Saamy (born 31 January 1959), known professionally as Swaminathan, is an Indian actor and comedian on working in the Tamil film and television industry. He appeared in prominent roles in Vijay TV's satiric series '' Lollu Sabha'' before becom ...

as a ghost * V. Gnanavel as a ghost * Harini Nair as a ghost * Susheela Neethi as a ghost *

Vidyullekha Raman Vidyullekha Raman (born 4 November 1991), also known as Vidyu Raman, is an Indian actress and comedian who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. The daughter of actor Mohan Raman, Vidyullekha made her debut in Gautham Vasudev Menon's 2012 '' Nee ...

as Julie, Manini's friend and colleague in the hospital * Madhusudhan Rao as Reddy *

Namo Narayana Namo Narayana is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil films. He made a breakthrough as an actor with his performances in ''Naadodigal'' (2009) and '' Komban'' (2015). Career Narayana was a software engineer before he chose to star in a ...

as Rajapandi * Sonia as Gnanaprakasham's wife *

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

as Gnanaprakasam *

Manobala Balachandar (8 December 1953 – 3 May 2023), known by his stage name Manobala (), was an Indian actor, film producer, director, comedian, and YouTuber who predominantly played supporting roles in Tamil-language films. He worked predominantly i ...

as Arnold *

Stunt Silva Stunt Silva is an Indian stunt actor, action director and stunt co-ordinator who has worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Nepali, Hindi. He made his debut with the 2005 Telugu film '' Chatrapathi'', directed by S. S. Rajamouli and h ...

as Prince, Reddy's henchman *

Prinz Nithik Arjai, previously credited as Prinz Nithik is an Indian actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films. He has appeared as the antagonist in films including '' Naan Sigappu Manithan'' (2014) and ''Massu Engira Masilamani'' (2015). Career Whil ...

as Mahesh, Madhi's henchman *

Ramya Subramanian Ramya Subramanian, also known as VJ Ramya, is an Indian actress and television host, who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. Early life Ramya was born in Thanjavur. She completed her schooling in Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan till 10th ...

as Reporter *

Badava Gopi Badava Gopi is an Indian stand-up comedian and actor. Career Badava Gopi is an Indian stand-up comedian, actor, singer, hailing from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He was introduced into films in 2005 in the movie ''Poi'', shot in Sri Lanka by the veter ...

as Registrar * Meesai Rajendran as Police Officer * Ramya Ramakrishnan as Ramya * Vikramadithyan as Siddhar * Srilekha Rajendran as Orphanage caretaker

Cameo appearances

* Jai as Kathiresan (ghost), Ganesh's eye-donor *

Vijay Vasanth Vijay Vasanth (born Vijayakumar Vasanthakumar on 20 May 1983) is an Indian politician who is a Member of Parliament from Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency. He contested and won the bypoll that took place for Kanyakumari Loksabha constituency ...

Gopi Gopi (, ) or Gopika in Hinduism are commonly referred to the group of milkmaids of Braj. They are regarded as the consorts and devotees of Krishna and are venerated for their unconditional love and devotion (''Bhakti'') to him as described i ...

* Anjali as

Manimegalai Manimegalai is an Indian television presenter and video jockey who is working in Tamil television industry. Since 2010, she has regularly been a host for shows on Sun Network before joining Star Vijay in 2019. She became widely recognised fo ...

(archival footage from ''

Engaeyum Eppothum ''Engaeyum Eppothum'' () is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama road film written and directed by M. Saravanan in his Tamil debut, he had earlier directed the Telugu film ''Ganesh'' (2009). It stars Jai, Sharvanand(in his tami ...

'') *

Brahmanandam Kanneganti Brahmanandam (born 1 February 1956) is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Recognised as one of India's finest and highest-paid comic actors, he holds the Guinness World Record for the most screen cred ...

as Dr. Gnanaprakasham, Hospital Dean (Voice Dubbed By M. S. Bhaskar) *

Vaibhav Vaibhav (वैभव, ) is a male given name in the Sanskrit language. People *Vaibhav Deshpande (born 1987), Indian cricketer *Vaibhav Kaul (born 1991), Indian photographer *Vaibhav Madhukar Pichad (born 1974), Indian politician *Vaibhav Mangl ...

as Ghost *

Sangeetha Krish Sangeetha Krish () is an Indian actress, dancer and television presenter who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam films and few Kannada films. Debuted in the mid 90s, Sangeetha is best known for her performances in the films '' Kh ...

as S. Shankari, Shakthi's School Principal

Production

Development

In early December 2013, ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

'' reported that Venkat Prabhu's next film after ''

Biriyani Biryani () is a mixed rice dish originating in South Asia, made with rice, meat (chicken, goat, lamb, beef) or seafood (prawns or fish), and spices. To cater to vegetarians, the meat or seafood can be substituted with vegetables or pane ...

'' (2013) would feature Suriya as the male lead and would also be produced by the actor himself under his newly launched company 2D Entertainment.Suriya & Venkat Prabhu come together!
''

''. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2014. Three days later the project was confirmed by the director, who however clarified that Studio Green would co-produce it along with 2D Entertainment. Subsequently, lyricist

was signed to write the dialogues for the film.Seshagiri, Sangeetha (6 July 2014).Movie is inspired from the Korean movie Man on the Edg
Suriya-Venkatprabhu Film Titled 'Masss'
. ''

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and ...

''. Retrieved 16 July 2014. As with Prabhu's earlier films, composer Yuvan Shankar Raja and editor Praveen K. L. were added to the technical crew, while R. D. Rajasekhar was signed as the cinematographer, replacing Prabhu's usual cinematographer

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

''. Retrieved 6 June 2014. but Venkat Prabhu later informed that it was not true. It was reported to be a

horror comedy Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

, while Venkat Prabhu stated that he was "trying something new" and that he could not reveal the genre. The film was rumoured to be titled as ''Poochandi'', however Venkat Prabhu announced on 5 July 2014 via Twitter and Facebook that it had been titled ''Masss''. On 25 May 2015, the film was renamed with a Tamil title ''Massu Engira Masilamani'', to be exempted from the State Government's thirty percentage

entertainment tax Entertainment tax, also sometimes referred to as "amusement tax", is any tax levied on any form of commercial entertainment, such as movie tickets, exhibitions, sport events and more. The specific rules such as the tax rate and cases of tax ex ...

Casting

Reports in January 2014 indicated that Suriya would be playing a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

in the film. Further more, he was said to be given two different looks, one of them having him sport long hair. After completing the film, Suriya stated that he had played two characters, Masilamani, a conman, and Shakti. Venkat Prabhu went on to add that Shakti was a

. Nayanthara was signed to play one of the female leads along with

Amy Jackson Amy Louise Jackson Westwick (née Jackson; born 31 January 1992) is a British actress and model known for her work in Indian films. She predominantly works in Tamil films but has appeared in Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English films. Jackson's ...

,Subramanian, Anupama (4 June 2014)
Nayanthara and Amy Jackson to romance Suriya
. ''

''. Retrieved 6 June 2014. while the director's brother Premji was given a significant supporting role as in all of Prabhu's films. Mohan was reported to be playing the villain, but the director stated that Mohan was not approached for any role in the film. Actor-director

R. Parthiepan Radhakrishnan Parthiban (born 15 November 1957) is an Indian actor and film director who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 16 films, produced 14 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for ...

informed that he had "a special character to essay in ''Masss'', a very significant one". In August 2014, the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' reported that

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

, who had worked with Venkat Prabhu in '' Saroja'' (2008), had been added to the cast and would be playing a prominent role, however, he was replaced by Parthiban. Actors Sriman,

and Daniel Annie Pope of ''

Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara ''Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara'' (), also referred to as ''iDhaaba'', is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, written and directed by Gokul. Produced by Leo Visions, the film stars Vijay Sethupathi, Ashwin, Swathi, Na ...

'' (2013) fame were reported to be playing the roles of spirits in the film. On 10 August 2014, actress

informed that she would be a part of the project. The next day, actor-director Samuthirakani was announced to be part of the project. Sanjay Bharathi was given a supporting role and participated in the

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

schedule. In November 2014, Amy Jackson opted out of the project, explaining that the makers had changed her character and the script, which would have resulted in her shooting only for half the number of days than she was initially committed to. She was replaced by Pranitha Subhash who joined the film's cast later the month. In October 2014, Riyaz Khan was named to be a part of the film, and was said to be playing "a very important role with a unique characterization". Prinz stated that he played one of the villains in ''Masss'' and that he would appear for a short duration but share screen space with Suriya.

Filming

The film was officially launched with a puja ceremony on 14 April 2014, coinciding with

Tamil New Year Puthandu (), also known as Tamil New Year (), is the first day of year on the Tamil calendar that is traditionally celebrated as a festival by Tamils. The festival date is set with the solar cycle of the solar Hindu calendar, as the first day ...

. Principal photography was reported to start from 11 July 2014,Suriya-Venkat film is titled 'Masss'
. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

''. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014. but commenced three days earlier in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. The first schedule was shot in a house on the ECR stretch for 15 days.K. R. Manigandan (8 August 2014)
Supernatural characters visible only to Suriya
. ''

''. Retrieved 8 August 2014. The crew with Suriya and Nayanthara shot some scenes at a hospital in Chennai.C. R. Sharanya (20 August 2014)
Suriya to sport two different looks again
. ''

''. Retrieved 20 August 2014. The first and second schedules of the film were completed by early September 2014. The team reportedly continued filming in

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

and

Kullu Kullu () is a municipal council town that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley about north of the airport ...

- Manali in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. Forty per cent of the filming was completed by the end of September 2014. In November 2014, the first song was filmed, which was choreographed by Ajay Raaj. By early December, the team shot crucial portions including a duet song sequence involving Suriya and Pranitha in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Following the schedule in Bulgaria, filming continued in

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: Places in India * Puducherry (union territory), formerly known as Pondicherry ** Puducherry (city), capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district The Puducherry District, also know ...

by January 2015. Later, the makers completed the film's principal photography on 20 April 2015.

Music

Prabhu's norm composer Yuvan Shankar Raja associated with the former for the sixth time. The film's soundtrack album features seven tracks composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, with two instrumentals and a remix done by Premgi Amaren. The lyrics for the songs were written by

Gangai Amaran Gangai Amaran (born Amar Singh) is an Indian composer, playback singer, lyricist, actor, film director and a screenwriter in Tamil films. Personal life Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as ...

, Madhan Karky and

Viveka ''Viveka'' () is a Sanskrit and Pali term translated into English as discernment or discrimination. In the Vedanta, ''viveka'' is considered to be the first requirement of the spiritual journey, the next being ''vairagya'' (detachment), as a nat ...

. The album was released under the

Eros Music Eros Now Music is an Indian music studio and distributor based in Mumbai, India. It is the dependent and domestic music label of Eros International Eros International Media Ltd. (also known as Eros India) is an Indian motion picture pro ...

label on 8 May 2015.

remixed and orchestrated the tune of "Gandi Baat" from the Hindi film '' R... Rajkumar'' (2013), as "Sema Masss" which was not included in the film. The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics.

Release

The film was initially scheduled to release in March 2015. However the makers officially announced that the film would be released on 1 May 2015. Later, the makers have postponed the release to avoid clash with

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

's ''

Uttama Villain () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Ramesh Aravind and written by Kamal Haasan, who co-produced the film with Chandrahasan under Raaj Kamal Films International and N. Lingusamy and N. Subash Chandrabose under T ...

''. On mid-April 2015, the makers confirmed that the film would be released on 15 May 2015. However, to avoid clash with

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and producer who primarily works in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She has received several accolades including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil N ...

's ''

36 Vayadhinile ''36 Vayadhinile'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Rosshan Andrrews. It is a remake of his Malayalam film ''How Old Are You'' (2014), and produced by Suriya under his production studio 2D Entertainment, markin ...

'', which was also produced by Suriya, the makers pushed the release to 29 May 2015. The film was released in around 1900 screens worldwide, including 425 screens in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, 570 screens in

and

, 143 screens in

, 100 screens in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, 140 screens in

and nearly 600 plus screens in overseas territories, thus becoming the biggest release in Suriya's career.

Marketing

The worldwide distribution rights of ''Masss'' were sold to Eros International for approximately . Dream Factory, a subsidiary of

was confirmed to distribute the film in Tamil Nadu.Suriya and Karthi from the same banner
. ''Behindwoods''. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014. Sopnam Films bought the

distribution rights for ''Masss'' as well as two other Studio Green productions, ''

Komban ''Komban'' is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by M. Muthaiah and produced by Studio Green. The film stars Karthi and Lakshmi Menon, while Rajkiran, Super Subbarayan, Thambi Ramaiah, Karunas, and Kovai Sarala play supp ...

'' and '' Darling''. The rights to Karnataka region were sold to distributor Srikanth. The first poster of ''Masss'' was released on 22 October 2014, coinciding with the

Deepavali Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual ...

festival. The official teaser was released on 25 April 2015 after midnight.

Reception

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Behindwoods'' gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and said, "It has the expected Venkat Prabhu elements, the crowd-pleasing supernatural factors treated in a slightly different way and of course, Suriya in all his glory." ''

'' also awarded the film 3.5 stars and said, "One thing obvious throughout the film is the effort taken by the director to make his movie watchable for audience of all age groups. It has romance, some spooky elements, comedy, witty one-liners, action, songs and dance." ''

Oneindia Oneindia.com is an Indian news website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Indian lang ...

'' rated it 3 stars as well and wrote, "Thanks to Suriya's brilliant performance and Venkat Prabhu's intriguing story telling ability, ''Masss'' will surely be enjoyed by the masses albeit poor VFX hindering the quality of the movie." ''Indiaglitz'' gave 3 stars out of 5 too and stated, "Venkat Prabhu has been stereotyped as the director who loves party hard movies, a bit of adult humor and all that, but in ''Masss'' he has steered clear of those elements and has given a wholesome family entertainer with an interesting storyline." ''

'' also rated the film 3 out of 5 and added, "The film lacks the raciness of ''Biriyani'' or ''

Mankatha ''Mankatha'' (; ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Dayanidhi Azhagiri's Cloud Nine Movies. The film stars an ensemble cast of Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja,Trisha Krishnan, Lakshmi Ra ...

'', but there is enough inventiveness and ''

joie de vivre ( , ; " joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit, and general happiness. It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ' ...

'' to the scenes to keep us entertained."''Sify'' rated 3.5 out of 5 and described ''Massu Engira Masilamani'' as "a no-holds-barred entertainer with all the essential ingredients." ''

Rediff Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' gave the film 3.5 stars on a scale of 5 and commented, "There is non-stop excitement, with all the characters in the film being on some kind of high, literally bursting with energy." ''

'' rated the film 3.5 out of 5 as well, saying that "the film drives up to an intersection where one sign says horror and another, entertainment, and firmly decides on the latter while paying just a passing reference to the former." ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

'' also gave the film 3.5 stars and wrote, "The paranormal twist in ''Massu...'' is what keeps you interested but there are too many twists; some predictable and some good." Writing for ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'',

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan () is an Indian film critic and writer. A chemical engineering graduate with no formal training in filmmaking or cinema writing, he has a diverse career in advertising, IT consulting, and cinema writing. He has authored two boo ...

stated, "The idea behind the supernaturally themed ''Massu'' is terrific, even it feels like a mashup of many spirit-driven films...the thing with Venkat Prabhu's films these days...(is)...they're all ideas and no follow-through...It's only in the last hour or so that ''Massu'' begins to score."Massu Engira Masilamani: Sloppy, with a not-bad second half
. The Hindu (29 May 2015). Retrieved on 9 June 2015. Malini Mannath from ''

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...

'' wrote, "Not very funny, not very scary, and not very original, Venkat Prabhu's attempt at crafting his first supernatural-comic-vendetta flick, turns out to be a disappointing and a boring affair...The director weaves in a hotchpotch of situations, the screenplay is sloppy and narration is jerky. The characters are one too many and the genuinely appreciative moments are few and far between."

Box office

The film grossed around 49 crore worldwide in its opening weekend, including net in Tamil Nadu alone with 1.84 crore from Chennai alone. ''Masss'' collected nearly 3 crore in

during its first weekend. It collected 1 crore from

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

alone on its first day. From the overseas markets, it reportedly earned in its first three days. The film has grossed approximately worldwide from both Tamil and Telugu versions in its lifetime. ''Masss'' was listed as one of the top 10 highest-grossing Tamil films of the year.

Accolades

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2010s Indian films 2010s Tamil-language films 2010s ghost films 2010s supernatural thriller films 2015 action comedy films 2015 comedy horror films 2015 films Cultural depictions of Sri Lankan people Fictional portrayals of the Tamil Nadu Police Films about con artists Films about exorcism Films about families Films about father–son relationships Films about miscarriage of justice Films about murder Films about police corruption Films about road accidents and incidents Films about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Films directed by Venkat Prabhu Films scored by Thaman S Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja Films set in Chennai Films set in Quebec City Films set in Tanzania Films set in heaven Films shot in Bulgaria Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Himachal Pradesh Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Manali, Himachal Pradesh Films shot in Ooty Films shot in Puducherry Indian action comedy films Indian action horror films Indian comedy horror films Indian ghost films Indian nonlinear narrative films Indian supernatural horror films Indian supernatural thriller films Supernatural comedy films Tamil films remade in other languages Tamil-language Indian films Films set in Montreal