Maamanithan (film)

Maamanithan
Film poster
Directed by	Seenu Ramasamy
Written by	Seenu Ramasamy
Produced by	Yuvan Shankar Raja Shan Sutharasan
Starring	Vijay Sethupathi Gayathrie Guru Somasundaram Shaji Chen Jewel Mary
Cinematography	M. Sukumar
Edited by	Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja Yuvan Shankar Raja Karthik Raja
Production company	YSR Productions
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Maamanithan (transl. Great Human) is an upcoming Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Seenu Ramasamy^[1] and produced by Yuvan Shankar Raja under his YSR Productions banner. The film stars Vijay Sethupathi, Gayathrie, K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Guru Somasundaram.^[2] In addition, Yuvan composed the soundtrack of this film along with his father, Ilaiyaraaja.^[3][4] The cinematography and editing were handled by M. Sukumar and A. Sreekar Prasad, respectively.

Cast[]

• Vijay Sethupathi as Radha Krishnan
• Gayathrie
• K. P. A. C. Lalitha
• Guru Somasundaram
• Shaji Chen
• Jewel Mary
• Anikha
• Ganja Karuppu^[5]
• Manasvi Kottachi^[5]
• Saravana Sakthi^[6]

Production[]

Development[]

In April 2017, reports surfaced that Vijay Sethupathi had signed a new project with Seenu Ramasamy after the success of Dharma Durai (2016).^[7] Seenu Ramasamy started writing the script for the project with a tentative title Maamanithan, with Yuvan Shankar Raja who earlier collaborated with Seenu in Dharma Durai and the unreleased film Idam Porul Yaeval, expressed his interest in producing the film apart from working on the film's music.^[7] Later, Seenu also narrated the script to composer Ilaiyaraaja who also agreed to work with his son Yuvan.^[2]

It was further reported that the film biopic of a popular leader who hails from the south Tamil Nadu region,^[8] with Vijay Sethupathi playing a politician in the film,^[9] however the team denied such claims. Seenu Ramasamy finished working on the script within May 2017, but shooting of the film delayed due to Sethupathi's commitments in other films.^[8]

Casting[]

Samuthirakani was announced for a pivotal character in April 2018, who plays a straightforward villager in the film. Seenu Ramasamy revealed that "his character will be the silent type, with very little dialogue and there will be no pair for him in the film".^[10] Though the film marked Samuthirakani and Seenu collaborating together after Neerparavai (2012), the former did not confirm his presence in the film.^[10] During the start of the shoot, Guru Somasundaram was announced a part of the pivotal cast, with Seenu stating his character as an important one which appears throughout the film.^[11] Guru Somasundaram played the role of a Muslim in the film.^[11]

Seenu also cast Gayathrie playing for another pivotal character. He stated that "her role is that of a young woman who has finished her 10th standard and has taken up teaching typewriting".^[11] Other supporting casts include K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Shaji Chen, Jewel Mary.

Initially Manasvi Kottachi was reported to play a supporting role but was replaced by Anikha, although not playing Sethupathi's daughter.^[12] During the schedule of Kerala, stills featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Malayalam actor Manikandan Achari went viral through internet, with the latter reported to play a supporting role in the film.^[13] Vijay Sethupathi plays an auto driver hailing from a rural family in the film.^[14]

Filming[]

The film's shooting began in Madurai with a formal pooja (prayer ceremony) on 15 December 2018.^[15][16] The first schedule of the film began in Andipatti, near Madurai which took place for 40 days.^[11] On 23 January 2019, the team headed to Kerala to shoot few major sequences for the film.^[17] The Kerala schedule was completed within 31 January, and the team shot few more sequences in Varanasi during early February and was wrapped on 12 February 2019.^[18] The entire filming was completed within 60 days.^[18]

Music[]

The film marked the first time collaboration of Ilaiyaraaja and his sons Karthik Raja and Yuvan Shankar Raja working together.^[19][20] Ilaiyaraaja's inclusion in the project was announced on 25 January 2018, when he was felicitated with Padma Vibushan by the Government of India,^[21] Yuvan stated that the collaboration with his father and brother, made his "journey of a music director being meaningful and purposeful".^[19][22] The film's director Seenu Ramasamy also thanked Yuvan for his initiative in bringing the Raja family collaborate on a project, in his interview with The Times of India.^[19][23]

Recording for the film's soundtrack began during September 2019,^[24] and completed on May 2020.^[25] The album featuring five songs had lyrics written by Pa. Vijay and Palani Bharathi. Ilaiyaraaja took charge of recording the songs and film score, while Yuvan did the arrangements for the soundtrack.^[26] The first single track "Thattiputta" was released by U1 Records on 7 April 2021, which had vocals performed by Ilaiyaraaja and written by Pa. Vijay.^[27] Another song "Ye Rasa" was released on 28 May 2021, which also had a promotional video featuring Yuvan Shankar Raja.^[28]

Release[]

The film was scheduled for a theatrical release during September and October 2019,^[29][30] but was delayed indefinitely due to a lawsuit filed against the producers by Jayaseelan who earlier registered the same title for his film. On March 2021, Seenu Ramasamy tweeted that Yuvan Shankar Raja had acquired the title rights from Jayaseelan and further stated that the promotions will begin for the film under the title Maamanithan.^[31] The producers started negotiating with streaming platforms for a direct digital release, as theatres being shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[32] revealed that the film is scheduled for a digital release through ZEE5 which purchased the digital rights, although no official confirmation has been made by the producers.^[33]

References[]