Maragadha Naanayam


Maragadha Naanayam is a 2017 Tamil fantasy comedy film written and directed by ARK Saravan and produced by G. Dillibabu. The film stars Aadhi and Nikki Galrani in the lead roles, while Anandaraj, Ramdoss, Daniel Annie Pope, Mime Gopi, and Kota Srinivasa Rao, among others, play supporting roles. The music was composed by first-timer Dhibu Ninan Thomas with cinematography by PV Shankar and editing by Prasanna GK. The teaser of the movie was released on March 11. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu as Marakathamani. This film released on 16 June 2017 to released to critical acclaim from critics as well the audience and become a profitable venture.

Plot

Senguttuvan and Elango are two small-time crooks who work for a local jewel smuggler named "Nochukuppam" Ramdoss. Senguttavan is attracted to a young woman Chanakya whom he sees every morning at the bus stop, however he never manages to speak to her. Chanakya eventually gets married, however her husband doesn't treat her well and physically and verbally abuses her in public.
Meanwhile, a Chinese businessman comes to the city looking to acquire an antique emerald medallion named "Maragatha Naanayam". This stone was owned by an ancient king named Irumporai and is rumoured to be cursed; anyone who laid their hands on the stone died due to a lorry accident, with the lorry rumoured to be driven by the spirit of King Irumporai. He hires a contractor named John, who has connections with local gangs that could do the job. He offers 10,00,00,000 for the contract, but no one is willing to do the job as they are afraid of the curse. Only Senguttavan, who is frustrated at the small-time work he is doing under Ramdoss, is interested in the offer as he wants to involve himself in something big and challenging. Elango convinces Senguttuvan to approach a local priest who could protect them from the curse. The priest hands Senguttavan and Elango a lemon, at which point the ghosts of the 132 people killed by the curse are revealed to them. The priest tells them that if they are going to pursue the stone, they will need to seek the help of one of the ghosts.
Back home, Senguttuvan and Elango complete the ritual to summon one of the ghosts: Elango's uncle Chidambaram. Unfortunately, before the ghost could appear, the duo is interrupted by the news that Ramdoss has died due to a heart attack. During Ramdoss's burial, the lemon accidentally slips from Senguttavan's pocket and falls on Ramdoss's hand, as a result of which Chidambaram's ghost possesses Ramdoss's body and appears in front of Senguttavan and Elango the following morning, much to their shock. The ghost decides to use three recently dead people and possess them with ghosts of three other people killed by the curse to help Senguttavan and Elango in their mission. The first is an old beggar who died in his sleep alongside the road. The second is a man who got decapitated in a freak accident. The third happens to be Chanakya, who hanged herself. Chidambaram successfully brings two of the ghosts to their new bodies, but one of them, a Tamil teacher, has trouble staying in the old beggar's body and keeps jumping in and out of the corpse.
Senguttuvan, Elango, and the three ghosts, now in their borrowed bodies, pursue the emerald stone. Following an initial lead, they interrogate Pandurangan while posing as the henchmen of a powerful local gang leader "Twinkle" Ramanathan. This leads them to recover an emerald medallion, which turns out to be a fake. However, their methods draw the attention of Ramanathan. He previously rejected the idea of pursuing the stone but changes his mind. After realizing that they recovered a replica, the group continues to piece clues together. They find the man who made the fake, who is now on his deathbed. Before he dies, the man gives them clues to who ordered the fake medallion - a local doctor named Krishnan who happens to be one of the men killed by the curse. They find his son, who is also a doctor, and kidnap him. Before they can get him to tell them where the original medallion is, they are caught by Ramanathan's henchmen and are taken to his torture chamber. They manage to escape the torturers and eventually find the original medallion.
Despite Chidambaram's warning, Senguttuvan and Elango touch the stone and are thereby cursed. They arrange for a meeting with John and the Chinese businessman for the exchange, but on the way, they are pursued by the mysterious driverless lorry. John and the Chinese businessman are run over by the lorry and killed. Senguttuvan manages to elude the lorry initially and recover the suitcase full of money. They then run into the Tamil teacher, who is in the beggar's body. He tells them that they must return the stone to the King's grave to lift the curse. On the way to the gravesite, they are pursued by both the mystery lorry and Ramanathan's gang, who are hell bent on taking the stone from them. The group manages to elude both and get to the gravesite. Before they can return the stone, Ramanathan's gang shows up. Senguttavan makes a deal with Ramanathan that after he places the stone in the King's grave, he can take it, to which he agrees. Senguttuvan and Elango place the stone in the grave and are therefore released from the curse. Ramanathan has one of his henchmen recover the stone.
Having completed the job, Senguttuvan and Elango bid goodbye to the four ghosts, who release themselves from the occupied bodies. The ghost occupying Chanakya's body allows an emotional Senguttavan to hear at last the voice of Chanakya and also a declaration of love from her. After Senguttavan and Elango bid a tearful farewell to Chidambaram, all four bodies are laid to rest.
During the credits, while Senguttavan and Elango are boarding a bus to return home, they bump into Ramanathan again, who is now on the run. He tells them as his henchman had touched the stone, he and his gang were pursued by the mysterious lorry and his henchman was killed, while he barely managed to escape. But a few minutes later, a pilgrim who had earlier encountered Ramanathan and his gang while they were in pursuit of Senguttavan, Elango and the three ghosts, returns the stone to him, thus activating the curse on Ramanathan and the pilgrim.

Cast

In May 2016, Axess Film Factory announced that they were making a fantasy-adventure comedy film directed by newcomer ARK.Saravan, who had worked an associate director to Ramkumar during Mundaasupatti. Aadhi and Nikki Galrani were signed on to play the leading roles, marking their second collaboration after Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka
The film's shoot commenced on 2016 May 26, and by August 10 the shoot was completed.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by first-timer Dhibu Ninan Thomas and the audio rights are with Lahari Music.
Music of the film was released on 15 March 2017, through Lahari Music. The audio was initially slated to release on 19 January 2017, but postponed due to the upcoming Jallikattu protests.

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Zee Tamizh. Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion wrote "The most welcome surprise in Maragatha Naanayam is that it isn’t just a collection of gags and scares, which is all this genre really needs".