Muni 2

''Kanchana'' (also known as ''Muni 2: Kanchana'') is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language comedy horror film written, produced and directed by Raghava Lawrence. It is a sequel to his previous venture, ''Muni'' (2007) and the second instalment in the ''Muni'' film series. The film stars Lawrence alongside R. Sarathkumar in the title role alongside Lakshmi Rai and Kovai Sarala while Devadarshini and Sriman play supporting roles. The film revolves around Raghava, who is scared to venture outside but gets possessed by a ghost and starts behaving weirdly.

The film's cinematography and editing were handled by Vetri and Kishore Te, respectively. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman. The film's distribution rights were bought by Sri Thenandal Films.

''Kanchana'''s Tamil version was released on 22 July 2011 while a same-titled Telugu dubbed version was released a week earlier on 15 July 2011. The film became a commercial success in both languages and has been remade in several languages.

Plot

Raghava, an unemployed youth, has developed irrational phasmophobia and refuses to step out of his house after sunset, chooses to sleep in his mother's room, and forces her to accompany him to the restroom at night. His antics disrupt the peace of his family, which includes his widowed mother, Vatsala, his elder brother Prasad, the latter's wife Kamakshi, and their children. Raghava and his companions, who usually play cricket on the ground, are compelled to search for another as construction activity is to take place in it, and unwittingly choose an abandoned land, which is believed to be haunted by supernatural forces.

While they try setting up the cricket pitch, a peculiar weather change causes them to abandon the land and return home. Still, Raghava does not notice that his cricket stumps are stained with blood after piercing corpses buried under the land. Raghava woos Kamakshi's younger sister Priya, who has come to stay with them, while Vatsala and Kamakshi become panic-stricken by perpetual supernatural occurrences at their residence. Hiding it from their family, Vatsala and Kamakshi consult a priest, who suggests three rituals to test the presence of a spirit in their home. Raghava, Priya, and the kids get sent to Kamakshi's maternal home to check on Kamakshi's ill father, a lie told to prevent Raghava from obstructing the rituals. Vatsala and Kamakshi's suspicions turn out to be true after they perform the rituals and to chase the ghost away, they hire two priests, who ask them to stay outside the house while they try to capture the ghost. However, they are con men chased away from the house but mislead Vatsala and Kamakshi into believing that they have seized the ghost, and they get paid. Raghava, Priya, and the kids return home the next day. On the same night, the spirit possesses Raghava.

From the succeeding day, Raghava begins to act effeminate and detaches himself from Priya. While in a shopping complex with his mother and sister-in-law, Raghava continues to act unmanly and wears a saree and women's jewellery, embarrassing Vatsala, who slaps him. Raghava strangles a woman, Madhavi, to death and later disposes of her corpse, unbeknownst to anyone. Kamakshi, that night, witnesses Raghava wearing her bangles and eventually exposes his womanish acts to Prasad, and the family confronts him. Then, the family discovers that Raghava is possessed by three spirits: a woman, an Urdu-speaking Muslim, and an autistic man. Frightened, the family approaches a Muslim exorcist, who drives the spirit away from Raghava's body and forces the woman's spirit to reveal who she is. The woman discloses herself as a transgender woman, Kanchana, who reveals her past.

Past: As a child, Karthik was disowned by her parents when they discovered that he was a trans woman. A Muslim named Akbar Bhai, who had an autistic son, adopted Karthik. He sympathised with Karthik, gave him refuge and renamed him Kanchana. Regretting that she could not become a doctor due to her struggles, Kanchana slogged to have her adopted daughter Geetha, another trans woman pursue her medical studies. Geetha eventually secured a scholarship and was sent abroad for post-graduation, while Kanchana bought a plot of land, intending to build a hospital there for the poor. However, the plot of land had been unlawfully seized by an MLA named Shankar for his love interest, Madhavi. When Kanchana and Akbar confronted Shankar for his act, he murdered them and tricked Akbar's son into committing suicide. He then proceeded to bury the corpses on Kanchana's plot of land.

Present: The exorcist sympathises with Kanchana but is bound by his responsibility. He seals her inside a protected container and secures Raghava with an amulet. Raghava, however, realises that Kanchana has been doing this for a good cause. He removes his amulet and allows her to possess him. Raghava/Kanchana fights Shankar and his henchmen, but Shankar seeks refuge in a Narasimha temple, which spirits cannot enter. Kanchana prays to the god to let her enter his temple so she can kill Shankar for justice. She gets to enter the temple and kills Shankar the way Narasimha had killed Hiranyakashipu.

A few years later, Raghava, Priya, and the family take part in the inauguration ceremony of the hospital, which was built on the plot of land as per Kanchana's wishes. A few local goons come to threaten them for money. Kanchana possesses Raghava, indicating that she will return when help is needed.

Cast

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman.

Reception

Critical response

Radhika Rajamani of ''Rediff.com'' wrote "It is torturous and tedious to watch, the chills and thrills are not spine-chilling and a soundtrack that is supposed to be eerie is anything but. There's quite a bit of unintended comedy too". Venkat Arikatla of ''Great Andhra'' wrote "As for Lawrence, his intention was to target the mass audience and he has been fairly successful in his attempt as compared to his prequel by infusing good depth and emotional intensity". ''Sify'' wrote, "On the whole, ''Kanchana'' is an entertaining affair and can be watched once". Y. Sunita Chowdhary of ''The Hindu'' wrote, "The film is awkwardly cobbled together with big shifts in character that comes with an explanation only in the last 20 minutes of the film. The character of the transvestite is more based on wishful thinking than plausible reality".

Box office

According to ''Sify'', ''Kanchana'' emerged 2011's most successful Tamil film based on return on investment. The film, made on a budget of and marketed for , had its Telugu dubbing rights sold to Bellamkonda Suresh for . The film was expected to gross ₹15 to 20 crore share from Tamil Nadu alone at the end of its run.

Accolades

Sequels and remakes

The third instalment in the ''Muni'' series, titled ''Kanchana 2'' was released in 2015, and the fourth instalment ''Kanchana 3'' in 2019. ''Kanchana'' was remade in Kannada as ''Kalpana'' (2012). Lawrence himself directed the Hindi remake titled ''Laxmii'' (2020). In 2016 the Sri Lankan remake ''Maya'' was released. It was unofficially remade in Burmese as '' Tar Tay Gyi'' (2017). In 2017, the Bengali language remake was released, titled '' Mayabini''.

Legacy

The song "Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae" inspired the title of a 2017 film.

See also

*List of Indian horror films
*List of ghost films

References

External links

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{{Raghava Lawrence

2010s ghost films
2010s Indian films
2010s Tamil-language films
2011 comedy horror films
2011 films
2011 LGBTQ-related films
2011 masala films
Films about spirit possession
Films about trans women
Films scored by Thaman S
Indian comedy horror films
Indian films about revenge
Indian ghost films
Indian LGBTQ-related films
Indian sequel films
LGBTQ-related comedy horror films
Tamil films remade in other languages
Tamil-language comedy horror films
Tamil-language Indian films