Majaa

Majaa
Majaa
	Poster
Directed by	Shafi
Screenplay by	Viji
Story by	Benny P Nayarambalam
Based on	Thommanum Makkalum
Produced by	Rockline Venkatesh
Starring	Vikram; Asin; Pasupathy; Manivannan; Vadivelu; Biju Menon; Murali; Vijayakumar; Abu Salim
Cinematography	Balasubramaniem
Edited by	V. T. Vijayan
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production; company	Rockline Entertainment
Distributed by	Aascar Films International
Release date	1 November 2005;
Running time	138 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Majaa is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Shafi and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. The film is a remake of the director's own Malayalam film Thommanum Makkalum (2005). The film stars Vikram, Asin, and Pasupathy, while Manivannan, Vadivelu, Vijayakumar, Biju Menon (in his Tamil debut),Murali and Abu Salim play supporting roles The music was composed by Vidyasagar. It tells the story of two adopted children changing from their old, mischievous ways of life.

Plot

Govindan is a thief who has two sons: Aadhi and Mathi. Years go by, and the brothers decide to stop stealing, mend their ways, and lead a hardworking life with their father. They migrate to a neighbouring village and meet a retired agricultural officer Chidambaram, who is in deep debt and is under pressure from the village landlord Kalingarayar to clear his debts. In efforts to help Chidambaram, Mathi confronts Seetha Lakshmi, Kalingarayar's daughter, who comes to collect the money Chidambaram owes her father. Seetha Lakshmi starts to acquire a liking for Mathi, but keeps it hidden due to her father's atrocious temper. In an attempt to teach Kalingarayar a lesson, Mathi forcibly ties the mangalsutram around Seetha's neck. Kalingarayar, realising his daughter's love for Mathi, comes down to arrange a grand remarriage between the two. But things go awry when Manicka Vel, Seetha Lakshmi's maternal uncle, comes to town in an effort to stop the wedding between the two as he has wicked plans of marrying Seetha Lakshmi and usurping her family fortune.

Cast

Vikram as Mathi
Asin as Seetha Lakshmi
Pasupathy as Aadhi
Manivannan as Govindan
Vadivelu as Pulipaandi
Vijayakumar as Chidambaram
Biju Menon as Rajavelu (Voice dubbed by P. Ravi Shankar)
Murali as Kalingarayar
Anu Prabhakar as Selvi
Nithin Sathya as Muthu, Chidambaram's son
T. P. Gajendran as Doctor
Ilavarasu
Gayathri
Baby Janaki
Mahanadi Shankar
Muthukaalai
Crane Manohar
Abu Salim as Manickam, Rajavelu's henchman
Sindu Tolani (special appearance in the song "Ayyarettu")
Ram Lakshman as Ramudu & Bheemudu

Production

The film was primarily shot at Pollachi.^[1]^[2]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Vidyasagar.^[3]

Song title	Singers	Lyrics
"Ayyarettu Naattukettu"	Shankar Mahadevan, Anuradha Sriram	P. Vijay
"Chi Chi Chi"	Shankar Mahadevan, Harini, Savitha Reddy,Karthik, Manikka Vinayagam	Yugabharathi
"Hey Pangaali"	Udit Narayan, Tippu, Manikka Vinayagam	P. Vijay
"Podhumadaa Saami"	Kailash Kher	P. Vijay
"Sollitharavaa"	Madhu Balakrishnan, Sadhana Sargam	Kabilan

Release

The film was released on 1 November 2005 alongside Sivakasi and Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam, Diwali day.^[4]

Reception

Sify wrote, "The major flaw of Majaa is its wafer-thin story and screenplay, a mediocre subject to be remade from Malayalam [...] the film gives you a dreary sense of déjà vu, a feeling that one has seen it before".^[5] A critic from Chennai Online wrote that "'Thomanum Makkalum', the film's original Malayalam version, in which Mammootty starred, had some perfect casting for the trio. But here the combination of Vikram, Pasupathi and Manivannan somehow fails to jell together as a team".^[6] A critic from webindia123 wrote that "Overall it is a clean family entertainer worth a watch".^[7]

Lajjavathi of Kalki praised the humour and performances of Vadivelu, Pasupathy and Manivannan but felt Asin and Murali were wasted, Vidyasagar did not score well while panning Thaali sentiment scenes, crippling screenplay and lengthy dialogues. He was surprised by Vikram for choosing this film and she do not want to get him wasted in weak plots.^[8] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu wrote "Getting an opening from an established producer like Rockline Venkatesh and with Vikram in the lead, director Shafi should have made the effort to make the fare more interesting".^[9]

Box office

It was declared an average grosser.^[10]^[11]

References

^ "Good times to roll". The Hindu. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
^ Sangeetha, P (17 April 2023). "Ponniyin Selvan 2 star Chiyaan Vikram calls himself the 'original soup boy', says he is like Aditha Karikalan in real life". OTTPlay. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
^ "Majaa". JioSaavn. 28 November 2006. Archived from the original on 18 January 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
^ "Deepavali releases – 2005". Chennai Online. 27 October 2005. Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
^ "Majaa". Sify. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
^ Mannath, Malini (5 November 2005). "Maja". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
^ "Majaa". Webindia123. Archived from the original on 31 October 2008. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
^ லஜ்ஜாவதி (13 November 2005). "மஜா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 1. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024 – via Internet Archive.
^ Kumar, Ashok (4 November 2005). "Where is the entertainment?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
^ "Chennai Box-Office (Nov 04-06)". Sify. 8 November 2005. Archived from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
^ "Chennai Box-Office (Nov 11-13)". Sify. 16 November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2012.