''Chanakya'' is a 2005 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film directed by A. Venkatesh and produced by Vishwas Sundar. It stars

R. Sarathkumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Award ...

Namitha Namitha Vankawala is an Indian actress, model and politician who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu cinema along with a few films in Kannada and Malayalam. She serves as a state executive member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Na ...

, Laya and

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960), known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and playback singer, having acted in supporting and lead roles in Tamil cinema. He gained widespread acclaim in Kollywood in the 2 ...

. The music was composed by

Srikanth Deva Srikanth Deva is an Indian music director of Tamil films. He made his debut as music director in the Tamil movie '' Doubles'' in 2000. He is the son of composer Deva, nephew of the famous music director duo Sabesh–Murali and the cousin of actor ...

with cinematography by

Madhu Ambat Madhu Ambat is an Indian cinematographer. With a career spanning over 40 years, he is one of the most prolific cinematographers in Indian cinema. He is best known for his work in films such as ''Amaram'', '' Anjali'', and ''Makaramanju''. He cu ...

and editing by V. T. Vijayan. The film released on 23 September 2005 to average reviews and became average at box office. It is the Sarath Kumar's hundredth film.

Plot

Ganesh is an auto driver and kind-hearted man who goes out of his way to earn money to help the poor and the needy. He likes to be in the limelight. Knowing well that the media would sensationalize anything that has to do with popular people in the city, he kidnaps a businessman, and in another instance, he implicates and submits himself to the police for a murder of an MLA that he does not commit. While he draws maximum publicity in the media, he creates a miserable life for the police. By his repeated pranks, Ganesh establishes himself as a person crazy only for publicity. People begin to call him "Publicity" Ganesh. Devanayaki owns a restaurant, and several autos run in her name in the local area. She is head over heels in love with Ganesh and goes about wooing him. In most of her screen time, she is singing and dancing with Ganesh. Meanwhile, Anjali approaches Ganesh to act in her ad films in return for handsome money, but she is actually an undercover agent investigating Ganesh's past. Ganesh has a sorrow past. His past life and the reason for his current deeds are told in a flashback. Ganesh's father is an upright person who works as a clerk in a collectorate in a coastal village. A natural disaster strikes that area, and leaves many homeless in its wake. To ameliorate their problems, the government allocates Rs. 20 crore to help the affected people rehabilitate. Unfortunately, the local assistant collector, the local MLA, and the local SP together form a trio and forget the grant, even while pretending to protect the best interest of the people. Ganesh's father learns of the trio's involvement in the heist and vows to expose them to the public, but the "representatives of authority" frame false charges and deceitfully turn the public outrage against Ganesh's father. In a melee, Ganesh's family is burnt alive. Ganesh escapes to the city, and avenges the death of his family. Ganesh then orchestrates the killing of the shenanigans.

Cast

as "Publicity" Ganesh and his father Manikkam (dual role) *

as Deivanayaki * Laya as Anjali *

as Subramani *

Seetha Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

as Kalyani *

Salim Ghouse Salim Ahmad Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born ...

as Police commissioner *

Cochin Hanifa Muhammed Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010), better known by his stage name Cochin Haneefa, was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to ...

as MLA *

Vincent Asokan Vincent Asokan is an Indian actor who has predominantly appeared in Tamil language films. Personal life Vincent is the son of actor S. A. Ashokan. He is married and has two sons. Career Vincent Asokan made his debut in director A. Venkates ...

as Assistant Collector *

Ilavarasu Ilavarasu is an Indian cinematographer and actor, who works in the Tamil film industry. He started his career as a cinematographer and worked for 13 films, winning a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for one of them. He, however, became better known ...

as Police inspector *

Meera Krishnan Meera Krishnan (born 1968) is an Indian actress, who has appeared in Tamil-language films and television serials. She started her career as an announcer on the public broadcaster Doordarshan and later became a newsreader for Sun TV before act ...

as commissioner's wife *

Mahanadi Shankar Mahanadi Shankar is an Indian stage, film and television actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials as supporting actor and negative roles. He has appeared in films including ''Mahanadi'' (1994), ''Baashha'' (1995), ''Ratchagan ...

as Politician *

LIC Narasimhan LIC Narasimhan was an Indian character actor who appeared in Tamil-language films. He has appeared in over 300 films and was also seen on the small screen and in ads. He was working for LIC as an officer, quit his job to take up a career in ...

as Judge *

Singamuthu Singamuthu (born 8 December 1958) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a comedian. Career Singamuthu has primarily appeared in comedy roles in films as a supporting actor debuting in ''Neram Nalla Irukku'' (1987). He ...

as Fight Master *

Halwa Vasu Vasu, popularly known as Halwa Vasu, (died 17 August 2017) was a comedian in the Tamil film industry in India. He worked in around 900 films. Career Vasu who hailed from Madurai district, came to Chennai to work in cinemas after his graduati ...

as Vasu *

Mayilsamy Mayilsamy (born October 2, 1965) is an Indian actor and comedian who prominently plays supporting roles. Appearing in many Tamil films, he is also a regular guest judge on '' Asathapovathu Yaaru'' on Sun TV in Chennai. Career He is a popular ...

as Subramani's customer *

Bonda Mani Bonda Mani is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. He has worked in comedy and supporting roles in over 270 films. Career Bonda Mani has described that his stage name is derived from his diet of bondas, when he was a stru ...

as Subramani's customer

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by

Critical reception

''Indiaglitz'' wrote "Though it is a beaten to blue theme, the rapid narration by Venkatesh makes the movie engrossing". ''Sify'' wrote "For those seeking masala entertainment, Chanakya is worth the price of ticket money".

References

External links

* {{A. Venkatesh (director) 2005 films 2000s Tamil-language films 2000s masala films Films scored by Srikanth Deva Films directed by A. Venkatesh (director) 2005 comedy-drama films