Manmadhan (transl. Cupid), alternatively spelled as Maanmathaun,[2] is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic crime thriller film directed by A. J. Murugan in his debut. Silambarasan plays dual roles for the first time in his career while Jyothika plays the female lead, with Sindhu Tolani, Santhanam, Atul Kulkarni, and Goundamani playing supporting roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.
| Manmadhan | |
|---|---|
 100th day theatrical run poster | |
| Directed by | A. J. Murugan |
| Written by | A. J. Murugan (uncredited) Silambarasan |
| Dialogues by | |
| Produced by | S. K. Krishnakanth |
| Starring | Silambarasan Jyothika |
| Cinematography | R. D. Rajasekhar S. Moorthy |
| Edited by | Anthony |
| Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
Production company | Indian Theatre Production |
| Distributed by | Simbu Cine Arts[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 158 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
| Budget | ₹5 crore[3] |
Manmadhan opened theatrically on 12 November 2004, coinciding with Diwali. It was received favourably and had a blockbuster run at the box office for over 150 days at the time of its release.[4] It was remade in Kannada as Madana (2006).[5]
Plot edit
Madhan Kumar is an auditor by profession, who lives in Chennai and also learns music part-time in a college. Mythili, a naive woman, also learns music from the same college. She gets scared upon seeing Madhan one day because she happens to witness a dream of her getting raped by him. Later on, she realises his kind nature and they both become friends.
However, Madhan is also a serial killer with an arrogant and psychotic personality under the pseudonym Manmadhan, through which he hunts and kills morally corrupt girls in the city by seducing them before rendering them unconscious using chloroform. He burns the girls' corpses and stores their ashes in bottles with their respective names. Whenever he intends to kill a girl by seducing her, he suffers a nosebleed. The media attention turns towards the case of missing girls, and Chennai's new ACP Deva takes the charge to find the person behind the crimes.
One day, Mythili finds Madhan riding a bike with a girl as pillion. On the next day, Mythili gets shocked to see the news that the girl whom she spotted with Madhan has gone missing. Mythili thinks that Madhan is behind the crimes in the city and informs Deva about Madhan's whereabouts. Thus, Madhan gets arrested.
During the investigation, Madhan reveals that his younger twin brother Madhan Raj is responsible for killing erotic and corrupt girls under the pseudonym Manmadhan. The story then moves to a flashback where Madhan Raj and Madhan Kumar were affectionate with each other. They lived with their maternal uncle Puncture Pandiyan in Madhampatty in the outskirts of Coimbatore district, as both of their parents had died years ago. While Madhan Kumar was brave, intelligent and practical, Madhan Raj was innocent and sentimental. While Madhan Kumar went to study for auditorship in Chennai, Madhan Raj moved to Coimbatore to study in an engineering college. There, he became very close and friendly with his hostel roommate Bobby, and fell in love with his classmate Vaishnavi, who also reciprocated his feelings upon seeing his good nature. However, Madhan Raj's senior friend Ravi informed him that Vaishnavi was having an illicit affair with her relative Seenu, who also studied in the same college. He did not trust him and in anger he beats Ravi. When Madhan Raj confronted Vaishnavi, she got angry and thought that he did not trust her.
Madhan Raj realises his mistake and went to Vaishnavi's house to apologise, only to find her having sex with Seenu and enjoying the moment. He realised that Ravi was correct right from the beginning. Raj also heard Vaishnavi's conversation with Seenu that she pretended to love him and would like to marry him so that she could take advantage of his innocence and sincere love, which would help her lead life the way she wanted, and have Madhan Raj as a slave for her. Furious, Madhan Raj killed both Vaishnavi and Seenu. He returned to Chennai and arrogantly narrated the whole incident to Kumar. Madhan Raj decided to change his appearance and set out in search of girls cheating in the name of love to kill them and warned Madhan Kumar that if he informed the police of his whereabouts, he would kill him too.
Coming back to the present, the police investigate further about Madhan Raj and get solid evidences against him. Madhan Kumar, with the help of Pandiyan, is released from the case. Mythili apologises to Madhan Kumar and also proposes to him, which he rejects, saying that he does not love her and had treated her as friend. Mythili leaves the place saying that she will wait for Madhan Kumar, believing that he will accept her love someday.
The story again moves to a flashback, where it is shown only to the audience that Madhan Kumar was actually Manmadhan, and Madhan Raj was innocent of the crimes. After killing Seenu and Vaishnavi, Madhan Raj actually met Madhan Kumar but didn't fight him and felt that he regretted killing them and he did it only because he was triggered due to what they were doing and committed suicide in front of Madhan Kumar's eyes, despite the latter's pleas. Madhan Kumar hence decided to avenge Madhan Raj's death by killing girls who cheat in the name of love, under the pseudonym Manmadhan and developed his "nosebleed" from then on. Madhan Kumar has hidden Madhan Raj's death, thereby using his identity as a scapegoat so that he could escape if caught.
It is shown that Madhan Kumar indeed loves Mythili for her innocence and good demeanour, but cannot and will not express his feelings for her. He also exclaims that if his brother had loved a girl like her, he would also have lived happily and he would have married Mythili and be happy. Hence, Madhan Kumar concludes that avenging his brother's death is more important, and only God can judge his actions. The film ends with a message that even if Manmadhan has escaped the clutches of the police, he would answer for his actions before the law someday.
Cast edit
- Silambarasan as Madhan Kumar (Manmadhan) and Madhan Raj (Mottamadhan)
- Jyothika as Mythili
- Sindhu Tolani as Vaishnavi
- Goundamani as Puncture Pandiyan
- Santhanam as Bobby
- Atul Kulkarni as ACP Deva IPS
- Sathyan as Inspector Shakthi (Deva's assistant)
- Mayuri as Malathi
- Guhan Shanmugam as Madhan Kumar's college rival
- T. P. Gajendran as Village Landlord
- Dr. S.Suresh Kumar as Reporter
- Crane Manohar as Puncture Pandiyan's worker
- Brinda Parekh as Train Passenger (guest appearance)
- Mandira Bedi as Psychiatrist (special appearance)[6]
- Yana Gupta (Item number)
- Arzoo Govitrikar as girl in cafe who was Manmadhan's target
Production edit
Manmadhan is the directorial debut of A. J. Murugan. He said the script was initially pitched to Ajith Kumar in 1999, and Ajith, despite showing interest, asked Murugan to wait but never returned. In 2001, Murugan narrated the script to Silambarasan, who accepted. S. K. Krishnakanth, who agreed to produce the film, later told Murugan that Silambarasan wanted credit for the story and dialogues, and Silambarasan's mother Usha told Murugan he would only be allowed to continue as director if he credited her son for the story. Unwilling to jeopardise his career, Murugan complied.[7] Silambarasan experienced difficulties with Murugan during the making of the film, and was widely reported by the media to have "ghost-directed" the project.[8] Murugan was later demoted and worked in Silambarasan's directorial venture, Vallavan (2006) as an associate director, and was consequently critical of the actor's insistence on interfering with the director's role.[9] According to cinematographer R. D. Rajasekhar, Manmadhan was the first Tamil film to be colour corrected through digital technology.[10]
Soundtrack edit
The soundtrack was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.[11] "En Aasai Mythiliye", sung by Silambarasan, is remixed from his father T. Rajendar's original song in Mythili Ennai Kaathali (1986), with new lyrics written by Pa. Vijay.[12][13]
| Song | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Thathai Thathai" | Silambarasan, Clinton Cerejo, Blaaze, Vasundhara Das | Vaali, Blaaze (English lyrics) | 5:55 |
| "Manmadhane Nee" | Sadhana Sargam | Vaali | 4:34 |
| "Oh Mahire" | Anushka Manchanda | Pa. Vijay | 5:49 |
| "Vaanamunna" | Shankar Mahadevan, Palakkad Sreeram | Na. Muthukumar | 5:08 |
| "En Aasai Mythiliye" | Silambarasan, Suchitra | Pa. Vijay | 4:25 |
| "Kadhal Valarthen" | KK | Na. Muththukumar | 7:28 |
- Telugu version
The lyrics were written by Veturi, Vennalakanti and Buvana Chandra.[14]
| Song | Singer(s) | Duration | Lyricist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Thathai Thathai" | Devi Sri Prasad, Clinton Cerejo, Kalpana, Vasundhara Das | 5:52 | Vennelakanti | |
| "Manmadhuda Nee" | K. S. Chithra | 4:30 | Veturi | |
| "Ningilanti manasu choodu" | Tippu, Murali | 5:02 | Veturi, Bhuvana Chandra | |
| "Kadanna prema" | S. P. B. Charan | 6:54 | Veturi | |
| "Andaala Menakave" | Ranjith, Suchitra | 4:19 | Bhuvana Chandra |
All music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "Sedi Sedi Onnu" | Silambarasan | 1:34 |
| 8. | "Sedi Sedi Onnu (Music)" | Instrumental | 0:35 |
| 9. | "Kannale" | Yuvan Shankar Raja | 1:12 |
| 10. | "Sedi Sedi Onnu 2" | Silambarasan | 0:49 |
| 11. | "Fight Theme" | Instrumental | 0:47 |
| 12. | "Pesamalae Mugam" | Yuvan Shankar Raja | 1:44 |
| 13. | "Sedi Sedi Onnu 3" | Silambarasan | 1:19 |
| 14. | "Thathai Thathai 2" | Silambarasan, Clinton Cerejo, Blaaze, Vasundhara Das | 5:52 |
| 15. | "Manmadhan Theme 1" | Instrumental | 2:35 |
| 16. | "Manmadhan Theme 2" | Instrumental | 1:34 |
| 17. | "Manmadhan Theme 3" | Instrumental | 0:59 |
| 18. | "Manmadhan Theme 4" | Instrumental | 1:02 |
| 19. | "Manmadhan Theme 5" | Instrumental | 1:24 |
| 20. | "Manmadhan Theme 6" | Instrumental | 0:45 |
| Total length: | 22:11 | ||
Release edit
Manmadhan received an A (adults only) certificate from the censor board with some cuts.[15] Though made on a high budget of ₹5 crore,[3] it was sold at a deficit to distributors. However, the film opened with 140 prints[16] and emerged successful despite facing competition from other Diwali releases such as Attahasam, Neranja Manasu and Chatrapathy.[17]
Reception edit
Sify wrote, "Manmathan is a taut thriller which engrosses the viewers with an engaging [narration], presentation, and is technically top class. [Silambarasan] has taken the audience by surprise with a good performance and contrary to his loud image that he had in films so far, he is a revelation".[18] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote that Silambarasan's "impressive story telling skills find the right platform" in Manmadhan. She added, "The hero takes on the onus of story, screenplay and direction supervision for the first time and displays a reasonable level of maturity."[19] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote, "‘Manmadhan’ is worth a watch, an engaging suspense thriller, a fare different from the routine romance-action flicks dished out to the audience."[20] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote that, though reminiscent of many American films including The Bone Collector, the plot was full of unpredictable twists and turns, and impresses without knives and without blood.[21]
Box-office edit
According to Sify, the film's collection reports from Chennai, Coimbatore and Salem distribution territories indicated that it surged ahead of Attahasam in its second week due to "rave reviews in the media and word-of-mouth among the youth".[22]
References edit
- ^ "மன்மதன்". Dina Thanthi (in Tamil). 18 February 2005.
- ^ a b "Maanmathaun - Only God Can Judge Him". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ a b "Simbu celebrates, producer grieves!". Sify. 21 February 2005. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ^ "Silambarasan and Jyothika's 'Manmadhan' to re-release in theatres across TN". The News Minute. 12 March 2021. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ Vijayasarathy, R G (4 December 2006). "Madana is a wasted effort". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 13 September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ Warrier, Shobha (9 June 2004). "Mandira Bedi says yes to Silambarasan!". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ Manikandan, Rajeshwari (31 December 2018). "Director AJ Murugan Says 'Manmadhan' Script Was His, Not Simbu's". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ Prakash, R. S. (16 February 2011). "The games Simbu plays". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ "Simbu and his misadventures". IndiaGlitz. 8 November 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ யுகந் (5 December 2004). "வானவில்லை நிறம் மாற்றலாம்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 16. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Manmadhan Tamil Audio CDs By Yuvan Shankar Raja". VintageAV.shop. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ Ram, Vignesh. "Manmadhan — Music Review". Nilacharal. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ "Kuththu, Manmadhan and more: Films that showed STR's rocking dance performances". Zoom. 5 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ "Manmadha". JioSaavn. 28 April 2005. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ "Diwali films censored". Sify. 6 November 2004. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Diwali- Pre-release trade buzz!". Sify. 10 November 2004. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Diwali waiting list!". Sify. 4 November 2004. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- ^ "Manmathan". Sify. 15 November 2004. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (19 November 2004). "Manmadhan". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ Mannath, Malini (27 November 2004). "Manmadhan". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 14 October 2006. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ தாசன், விஷுவல் (28 November 2004). "மன்மதன்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 12. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "'Manmathan' overtakes 'Attakasam'at BO?". Sify. 26 November 2004. Archived from the original on 24 April 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
