''Maya Kannadi'' () is a 2007 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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Cheran and produced by

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 ...

. Cheran also plays the lead role with

Navya Nair Navya Nair (born Dhanya Veena; 14 October 1985) is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam cinema along with a few Kannada and Tamil language films. Early and personal life Navya Nair was born Dhanya Veena on 14 October ...

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

scores the music, while R. Sarathkumar,

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

and Malavika make cameo appearances in the film.

Plot

Kumar is a young man who comes from

Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil language, Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city and the administrative headquarters of ...

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 ...

with dreams and hopes about the future. He gets a job in a men's beauty parlor in Chennai. Every day, he observes and learns more about life in the city. He starts to dream and build castles in the air. Maheswari works in another beauty parlor and also has desires of her own. The rest of the story is about what happens to these two people. This three hour-long film has similar themes compared to Cheran's previous films. The key message in this film is that each person's life is in his or her own hands.

Cast

Cameo appearances

Production

Jayaprakash, who earlier worked as producer, made his acting debut with this film. Cheran, who plays a barber, learnt and practiced haircutting for his role. He also spent four days rehearsing for a dance sequence.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by

Critical reception

Shwetha Bhaskar of ''

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'' wrote, "A brave film indeed for not resorting to the usual cliches and daring to go where very few filmmakers dare to go -- the ordinary realm of the despondency of the common man." ''

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'' wrote, "We wish Cheran had whipped up a more winsome screenplay with Mayakannadi, which is based on middle class dreams turning sour due to lack of commitment. It's nowhere in the league of the talented director's previous works like Autograph or Thavamai Thavamirunthu." Malathi Rangarajan of ''

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 ...

'' wrote "Cheran's much awaited film does not live up to its expectations. One does not know what Cheran wants to convey through Chellammai Celluloids "Maayakkannaadi," in which positive aspect is thoroughly missing". Lajjavathi of ''

Kalki Kalki (), also called Kalkin, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu. According to Vaishnavism, Vaishnava cosmology, Kalki is destined to appear at the end of the Kali Yuga, the last of the four ages i ...

'' praised Cheran for narrative style despite finding the message of giving up dreams rather weird while praising the acting of Cheran and other actors, found Ilayaraja's songs as average but praised Dwarakanath's cinematography and concluded saying Cheran has a good sense of what people expect from him through "Maya Kannadi". Cheran must be thankful for this time glass that is useful for that!. Malini Mannath of ''Chennai Online'' wrote, "Cheran steps away from the rural milieu and into a totally urban-centric plot in 'Mayakkanadi'. The director-hero, while conveying a relevant message through his film, keeps the proceedings fairly engaging for the most part. But what is missing here is the sense of completeness which we had experienced while watching the director's earlier films".

References

External links

* * {{Cheran (director) 2000s Indian films 2000s Tamil-language films 2007 drama films 2007 films Films directed by Cheran Films scored by Ilaiyaraaja Indian drama films Tamil-language drama films Tamil-language Indian films