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
Promotional poster
Directed byRaghava Lawrence
Written byRamesh Khanna
(Dialogues)
Screenplay byRaghava Lawrence
Story byRaghava Lawrence
Produced bySaran
Starring
CinematographyK. V. Guhan
Edited bySuresh Urs
Music byOriginal songs:
Bharadwaj
Background Score:
S. P. Venkatesh
Production
company
Gemini Productions
Release date
  • 9 March 2007 (2007-03-09)
Running time
153 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

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.

Ganesh enters Dhandapani's household and terrorizes him and his assistants. Dhandapani learns that Muni's spirit is in Ganesh's body, so he gets a shaman named Mastan Bhai to save his life. Bhai bargains with Muni, 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

Music edit

The soundtrack was composed by Bharadwaj.[2][3]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Assah Pussah"Pa. VijayKarthik, Priya Himesh4.16
2."Suru Suru Susuravarthi"Raghava LawrenceRanjith, Anuradha Sriram4.19
3."Gulla Gulla Dracula"Pa. VijayBharadwaj4.24
4."Varranda Muni"Pa. VijayMukesh3.54
5."Thalai Suthuthey Mami – Version 1"Raghava LawrenceBharadwaj, Kavitha4.50
6."Thalai Suthuthey Mami – Version 2"Raghava LawrenceRaghava Lawrence4.11
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]

Sequels edit

The success of the film spawned four sequels.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Although Raghava Lawrence stars in the lead role, Rajkiran stars in the titular role.

References edit

  1. ^ "'Muni' completes talkie part". IndiaGlitz. 28 December 2006. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ Karthik (12 January 2007). "Muni (Tamil – Bharadwaj)". Milliblog!. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Muni (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Muni". Sify. 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ "Muni: 'Thrill Bill': The Fear Factor". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.

External links edit