Maayavi () is a 2005 Indian Tamil language-language black comedy film directed by Singampuli that stars Suriya and Jyothika (who plays a fictional version of herself), whilst Vijayakanth makes a cameo.
Plot
Abhes Balayya (
Suriya), the guide conman thief, is footloose and fancy-free. He and his acolyte Sathyaraj (Sathyan) have no hangups in life. Balayya’s problems start when he and Sathyaraj land up in a huge villa on the beachfront. It is actually actress Jyotika’s (
Jyothika) house. When they realize it, they want to replace what they have taken. As it happens, the actress catches them and creates a huge issue out of it. For their efforts, they are put behind bars. Jyotika does not like Balayya at all. Balayya goes out to take revenge on her and kidnap her. Just about when the whole industry and her family tries to trace Jyotika, she understands the real Balayya. In the end, Balayya comes to see her and gives her a gift, which is the photographs they took together.
Cast
As per the film's opening credits:
Production
Director Bala forayed into production with this film.
Jyothika dubbed for herself.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was scored by Devi Sri Prasad, marking his first collaboration with Suriya. Prasad reused the songs "Gongura Thotakada" and "Silakemo" from
Venky and reused them as "Kaathadi Pole" and "Tamizh Naattil", respectively.
The song "Kadavul Thandha" is based on "Eppudu" from
Sontham.
Release and reception
The Hindu wrote how the idea of an actress being kidnapped was present in the film
Vaaname Ellai.
noted that "Surya has given a superb performance. Jyothika is cute but does her bit of overacting".
wrote "The downside of the film lies in the second half when the action shifts to a room with three characters only. A more innovative way could have made the film more interesting and racy."
gave a negative review citing "It's meant to be a total comic entertainer, but the comedy being mostly juvenile, it starts grating on your nerves after a time."
Visual Dasan of
Kalki wrote a rusted screenplay doesn't need a grand plot. The first requirement is interesting and non-boring incidents.
Mayavi is a colorful example of this.
wrote "Mayaavi is a jolly fun ride in the first half for its cute concept and silly slapstick comedy. The storyline has been explored earlier by Hollywood directors and later by Ramgopal Varma with Mast and recently in a Malayalam film Immini Nalloral. But the second half lags with too many unwanted sentiments and offers little in the way of surprise in the climax".
wrote "Bala, who has produced this film and let his protege weird the megaphone, is behind almost all the scenes and sees to it that the film moves at a good pace. Only in the second half he seems to have taken rest and the film drags a bit. Nothing much to write about the songs but the camerawork is noteworthy. In short, Mayaavi is an entertainer".
The film was dubbed in Telugu as
Kidnap (2006).
External links
