''Naan Mahaan Alla'' () is a 2010 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
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
written and directed by
Suseenthiran
Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut '' Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009).
Career
Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Pal ...
. It stars
Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...
,
Kajal Aggarwal,
Jayaprakash and
Soori. Featuring music scored by
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...
and cinematography handled by
R. Madhi
Madhie is an Indian film cinematographer. Former assistant of noted cinematographer S. Saravanan, he has notably worked in films such as ''Veyil'', ''Paiyaa'', ''Pandianadu'', '' Mirchi'', ''Srimanthudu'' and ''Ghaz''i.
Early life
Madhie i ...
, the film was produced by K. E. Gnanavelraja and distributed by
Dayanidhi Azhagiri
Dhayanidhi Azhagiri is an Indian Tamil cinema producer and distributor. He is the owner of the Cloud Nine Movies banner. His grandfather is M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His father is M. K. Alagiri, the former Minis ...
's
Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies was an Indian film production and distribution company, based in Chennai. It is owned by Dayanidhi Azhagiri and Vivek Rathinavel and was founded in 2008 until 2014. He founded another new production company in 2013, Meeka Ent ...
. Set in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, the film follows Jeeva, an unemployed and carefree young man whose father becomes the target of a gang of young criminals after witnessing a kidnapping.
The film, not related to the
1984 film of the same name and based on a real-life incident, released on 20 August 2011 to positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, action sequences and realistic tone. The acclaimed climax fight sequence would later go on to become the benchmark for the makers of Karthi's 2019 action film ''
Kaithi
Kaithi (), also called Kayathi () or Kayasthi (), is a historical Brahmic script that was used widely in parts of Northern and Eastern India, primarily in the present-day states of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. In particular, it was us ...
''.
Plot
Jeeva is a
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
-based youngster who hails from a middle-class family. His father, Pragasam, is a
call taxi driver and the family's sole breadwinner. Jeeva meets a woman named Priya at their friend's wedding, and soon they fall for each other. Upon meeting Priya's father, Jeeva is asked to get a job first in order to get married. Jeeva accepts, taking the job as a
Bank manager but soon gets fired. Pragasam, who had witnessed a killing of two youngsters by a group of 5 young men, gets attacked by them, where he is admitted to the hospital. The gang tries to kill him again in the absence of Jeeva, but to no avail. Pragasam is brought home, and Jeeva starts taking responsibility for his family by reclaiming his lost job and maintaining all the accounts.
Looking at the news reports of the girl that boarded his taxi and got mutilated by the gang, Pragasam calls Jeeva to accompany him to the morgue, where he helps the
investigating officer by providing clues about the killer. Sensing trouble, the gang enlists the help of Pey Babu, one of the member's uncle, to plan and kill Pragasam after explaining how they killed the girl and her lover. When Pragasam and Jeeva go out to shop for the latter's sister's wedding, one of the men calls Jeeva on behalf of a store, thus separating him from Pragasam. The men then create a stampede by throwing bottles as one of them stabs Pragasam with a piece of poisoned glass sharp. Pragasam instantly dies in Jeeva's arms. Following his cremation, Jeeva tells the cops not to pursue the killers anymore as it would bring nothing but trouble for his middle-class family.
However, Jeeva decides to
take the law into his hands, fearing the gang might commit more inhumane crimes if they are scot-free. He recalls one of the men, during his father's death, looked the same as Pragasam described him during his visit to the morgue. Jeeva enlists the help of his friend Kutti Nadesan, a gangster to track down the gang. With his influence, Kutti Nadesan asks his gang to bring all the guys who plan for a murder in Chennai, so that Jeeva can identify him. While Jeeva is busy identifying the killers, Pey Babu leaves upon being questioned by Nadesan. Jeeva realizes Pey Babu was the man who delivered pamphlets at his home before Pragasam's murder. A chase ensues, and Jeeva succeeds in capturing Pey Babu after a brief fight. He orders him to call the boys and tell them to stay in front of their college.
Jeeva succeeds in capturing his father's killer and tries to escape, but the gang gets alerted and ends up freeing their friend from Jeeva's custody following a glass bottle attack. One of the gang members stabs Pey Babu to his death. Jeeva chases the attacker near a railway line where the two brutally fight, resulting in the attacker getting run over by a train. Jeeva visits the deceased gang member's funeral to catch his friends, who escape before Jeeva sees them. They go to the beach, and Nadesan is also there along with his henchmen. The gang gets drunk and vows to kill Jeeva, who contacts Nadesan to find out about the four remaining boys. However, noticing the boys yelling, Nadesan asks for specifics and confirms the gang's location at the beach. While trying to confront the gang, Nadesan and his henchmen are lured into a trap where they are all eliminated one-by-one before Jeeva arrives. A brutal fight ensues, leaving the gang members fatally wounded. Jeeva throws them into a pit and departs after burying all of them.
Cast
*
Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...
as Jeeva Pragasam
*
Kajal Aggarwal as Priya, Jeeva's love interest
*
Jayaprakash as Pragasam, Jeeva's father
*
Soori as Ravi, Jeeva's best friend
*
Vijay Sethupathi
Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award.
Fo ...
as Ganesh, Jeeva's friend
*
Lakshmi Ramakrishnan
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan is an Indian actress, director and philanthropist. She made her debut in the Malayalam film ''Chakkara Muthu'' (2006), and has since appeared primarily in supporting roles in Tamil films.
Personal life
Lakshmy was born an ...
as Jeeva's mother
* Ravi Prakash as Sudharsan
*
Neelima Rani
Neelima Rani is an Indian actress, a dubbing artist and producer who is mainly known for her roles in Tamil-language soap operas and movies in antagonistic roles.
Career
Neelima started her career in ''Oru Pennin Kathai'' when she was in sc ...
as Sudha
*
Ramachandran Durairaj
Ramachandran Durairaj is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. After working as an associate director, he made his breakthrough as an actor with a leading role in Suseenthiran's '' Naan Mahaan Alla'' (2010). He later won accl ...
as Pei Babu
*
Aruldoss
Aruldoss is an Indian actor who has appeared in supporting roles in predominantly Tamil language films. Prior to focusing on an acting career, he worked as a cinematographer for several films.
Career
After completing school, Aruldoss worked a ...
as Kutti Nadesan
*
Vinod Kishan
*
Hari Vairavan
*
Rajeevan
Rajeevan is an art director in Indian films. He is a graduate of Loyola College, Chennai.
Career
Rajeevan began doing art direction for ad films and television serials, before being given the opportunity to work in a feature film for the firs ...
* Krishnapriya Atlee as Keerthi Pragasam, Jeeva's Sister
* Sindhu as Saroja, Kutti Nadesan's wife
* Thanjai Mahendran as Dhanam
Production
Development
After his first feature film ''
Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu
''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film written and directed by newcomer Susindran, starring debutant Vishnu Vishal, Kishore, and Saranya Mohan along with numerous other newcomers. The music was composed ...
'', released in February 2009, became a success, receiving much critical acclaim as well, director
Suseenthiran
Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut '' Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009).
Career
Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Pal ...
started to work on the script for his next film. Initially planning to do one titled ''
Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai
''Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai'' () is a 2011 Tamil-language mystery comedy drama film directed by Suseenthiran, based on the short story of the same name penned by writer Bhaskar Sakthi. The film stars Appukutty and Saranya Mohan in lead and feature ...
'', which failed to commence due to financial problems, he decided to first direct a film featuring a known lead actor, before coming back to that film. He was ready with the script by August 2009, revealing details about the project. While his previous work was based on sporting incidents in a rural background, this one was said to be a "total city subject", shot entirely in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
.
An action family entertainer, it would deal about problems in city life, according to Suseenthiran.
On 19 August 2009, it was announced that the film was titled ''Naan Mahaan Alla'' and would be produced by K. E. Gnanavelraja under the banner of Studio Green, who earlier had produced
Suriya's ''
Sillunu Oru Kadhal'' and the award-winning ''
Paruthiveeran
''Paruthiveeran'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan, Ganja K ...
'' by
Ameer Sultan
Ameer Sultan (born 5 December 1967) is an Indian film director, producer and actor, working in the Tamil film industry.
Early life and career
Ameer Sultan was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu India. He initially studied economics and worked as an e ...
, which incidentally also starred
Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...
in the lead role.
It was reportedly based on a real-life incident that happened to one of the relatives of director
Suseenthiran
Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut '' Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009).
Career
Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Pal ...
. He scripted the film for five months.
Casting
While ''
Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu
''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film written and directed by newcomer Susindran, starring debutant Vishnu Vishal, Kishore, and Saranya Mohan along with numerous other newcomers. The music was composed ...
'' (Suseenthiran's first feature film) starred mostly newcomers, he chose Karthi for the lead role in this film as he felt that Karthi has an "innocence in his face" that was needed for this role and that he could "convey charm, innocence and being jolly at the same time".
For the lead female role,
Kajal Aggarwal, who had appeared in Tamil films like ''
Pazhani
Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...
'', ''
Saroja'' and ''
Modhi Vilayadu
''Modhi Vilayadu'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Saran. It stars Vinay and Kajal Aggarwal. This is the second time that Saran had worked without his usual music collaborator Bharadwaj after '' Alli Arjuna'' in 2002 ...
'', was roped in. Suseenthiran chose her after seeing her performances in the
Telugu films
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...
''
Chandamama
''Chandamama'' was a classic Indian monthly magazine for children, famous for its illustrations. It also published long-running mythological/magical stories that ran for years. Originally, "Chandamama" was started in Telugu by Chakrapani and ...
'' and ''
Magadheera
''Magadheera'' () is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language fantasy action film directed by S. S. Rajamouli and produced by Allu Aravind's Geetha Arts, on a story by V. Vijayendra Prasad. The film stars Ram Charan, Srihari, Kajal Aggarwal and Dev Gil ...
''. He felt that her "cute expressions" were what he needed for that character.
While Karthi's character is a middle-class bank employee, Aggarwal would play an employee in a mobile phone company.
Soori, who also played a comedic role in ''
Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu
''Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language sports drama film written and directed by newcomer Susindran, starring debutant Vishnu Vishal, Kishore, and Saranya Mohan along with numerous other newcomers. The music was composed ...
'' was again included, while Jayaprakash, who played several supporting roles and rose to fame with his performance in ''
Pasanga
''Pasanga'' () is an Indian Tamil-language children's film directed by Pandiraj. It stars debutant child actors like Kishore DS, Sree Raam and Pandian, along with newcomer Vimal and Vega Tamotia in supporting roles. The film is produced by S ...
'' was chosen to play Karthi's father.
As in his previous film, Suseenthiran introduced several new artists,
such as five boys who played the villains with one of them being Vinod who played the younger character of
Surya
Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...
in ''
Nandha
''Nandha'' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Bala. The film stars Suriya in the lead role, while Rajkiran, Laila, Saravanan and Rajshree play other supporting roles. The film also marked the debut of com ...
''. According to the director, he found three of them "loitering on a popular road in the city", whilst cinematographer Vijay Milton's assistant
Ramachandran Durairaj
Ramachandran Durairaj is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. After working as an associate director, he made his breakthrough as an actor with a leading role in Suseenthiran's '' Naan Mahaan Alla'' (2010). He later won accl ...
and cinematographer
Aruldoss
Aruldoss is an Indian actor who has appeared in supporting roles in predominantly Tamil language films. Prior to focusing on an acting career, he worked as a cinematographer for several films.
Career
After completing school, Aruldoss worked a ...
debuted and played pivotal roles.
Filming
Filming began, after ten days of
rehearsal
A rehearsal is an activity in the performing arts that occurs as preparation for a performance in music, theatre, dance and related arts, such as opera, musical theatre and film production. It is undertaken as a form of practising, to ensure t ...
s,
on 4 September 2009 and was held in cities as
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
and
Visakhapatnam
, image_alt =
, image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...
.
In mid-September, reported locations included
East Coast Road
East Coast Road (ECR), combination of SH-49, NH-332A, NH-32, officially known as Mutthamizh Arignar Kalaignar Road, is a two-lane highway (now being partially upgraded to four-lane way from Chennai to Mamallapuram) in Tamil Nadu, India, built ...
(ECR) near
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
and later in the environs of the highways near
Poonamallee
Poonamallee is suburb of Chennai, India under the Chennai Metropolitan Area. It was historically called ''Pushpagirimangalam'', later renamed in Tamil as ''Poovirundhavalli'' (), and now colloquially called as ''Poondhamalli''. It is a town in ...
in Chennai.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack of ''Naan Mahaan Alla'' is composed by
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...
, making this his third collaboration with
Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...
, after scoring highly successful results with ''
Paruthiveeran
''Paruthiveeran'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ameer. The film stars Karthi in his feature film debut as the title character, with Priyamani as the female lead and Ponvannan, Saravanan, Ganja K ...
'' (2007) and ''
Paiyaa
''Paiyaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film written, produced and directed by N. Linguswamy. It stars Karthi and Tamannaah, with Sonia Deepti, Milind Soman and Jagan appearing in supporting roles. The film, produced by ...
'' (2010), and his first with director
Suseenthiran
Suseenthiran is an Indian film director and screenwriter in Tamil cinema. He rose to fame with his directorial debut '' Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu'' (2009).
Career
Suseenthiran, who originally hails from a small village called Amarapoondi in Pal ...
, who worked with
V. Selvaganesh for his previous film. The soundtrack album, which features five songs, with lyrics penned by
Na. Muthukumar
Nagarajan Muthukumar (12 July 1975 – 14 August 2016) was a Tamil poet, lyricist, and author. Best known for his Tamil language film songs, he received the most Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist in Tamil and was a two-time recipient of the Nat ...
and
Yugabharathi
Yugabharathi is a Tamil poet and lyricist. His birth name was "Santhanam Desan" and he was known as "Santhanam" by his family and friends. During the early 1990s when he began writing poems for magazines he started using the pen name "Yugabharat ...
was released on 24 July 2010 at
Sathyam Cinemas
SPI Cinemas is an Indian multiplex chain originally owned by the SPI Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The company is often lauded for its premium quality and inexpensive pricing. Its theatres, primarily Sathyam, are often used by ...
in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. The song "Va Va Nilava Pudichi" is repeated at the end of the album, with singer
Rahul Nambiar
Rahul Nambiar is an Indian playback singer and live performer. An MBA and M.Com-graduate, he won the Swapthaswarangal show in 2001 and began singing live. He sung more than 2000 songs in movies,He later ventured into playback singing, performin ...
credited for both. Nambiar, however, stated on his
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
site that two versions were recorded featuring his and Haricharan's voice, respectively, but that both songs in the album were rendered by Haricharan only and his own version wasn't included at all.
Only three songs were used in the film in their entirety, with "Oru Maalai Neram" being left out completely. The album received extremely positive reviews, with "
Iragai Pole" in particular, sung by composer Yuvan Shankar Raja, becoming hugely popular, topping the charts for several weeks. Before the soundtrack release, Yuvan claimed on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that the song was one of his favorites, on which he had worked for days. After seeing the entire film, he was said to have remixed and completely reworked that song, altering the orchestration inter alia, to match it with the visuals.
He garnered accolades for the film's score as well. As per Suseenthiran, the music was "crucial" in the second half of the film, which was the reason for opting for Yuvan Shankar.
According to Karthi, Yuvan had worked for 12 days for the score of the second half, which has "hardly any dialogues", adding that he was the one "who narrates the story in the second half through his music".
Release
Reception
''Naan Mahaan Alla'' received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, with ''Top10Cinema.com'' labelling ''Naan Mahaan Alla'' as "outstanding", proceeding to highlight that "almost everything works: the plot and screenplay, performances, technical panoramas", while Pavithra Srinivasan of ''
Rediff
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
.com'' described it as "almost perfect", giving it 3 out of 5. Sreedhar Pillai of ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
.com'' also gave a very positive verdict, stating that director Suseenthiran comes up with a "rocker of a film" that is "refreshingly fresh, innovative and packaged in a breezy manner within the commercial format", adding that it is "engrossing and racy". Furthermore, he praised lead actor Karthi's "power packed" performance, citing that he "nails the character to perfection" and "carries the film to its winning point". Similarly ''
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
'' reviewer Bhama Devi Ravi, gave 3.5 out of 5, claiming the film to be "entertaining almost till the end", whilst addressing high praise to both Suseenthiran, who according to her is "turning out to be a treasure", and Karthi, whose performance she described as his "best work yet".
Box office
The film opened well, and made a steady progress in the Chennai box office, eventually becoming a very successful venture. In five weeks ''Naan Mahaan Alla'' made a collection of 5 crore; 4.47 crore was collected in Chennai city alone.
Accolades
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naan Mahaan Alla (2010 Film)
2010 films
2010 action films
2010 thriller films
2010s Tamil-language films
2010 action drama films
2010 action thriller films
2010 crime action films
2010s vigilante films
Indian action drama films
Indian action thriller films
Indian crime action films
Indian vigilante films
Indian films about revenge
Indian films based on actual events
Action films based on actual events
Crime films based on actual events
Drama films based on actual events
Thriller films based on actual events
Films about murder
Films set in Chennai
Films directed by Suseenthiran
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja
Films shot in Chennai