Manikanda

Manikanda is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Selva. Arjun plays a dual role, that of father and son. The film, which began production in 2002, went through more production, was finally released in 2007, and was promoted as Jyothika's "last release". It is a remake of the 2000 Telugu movie Jayam Manadera.

Manikanda
Poster
Directed by	Selva
Written by	G. K. Gopinath (dialogues)
Story by	M. Rathnakumar
Produced by	K. Dhandapani
Starring	Arjun Jyothika Uma
Cinematography	U. K. Senthil Kumar
Edited by	Raghubob
Music by	Deva
Production company	Malar Combines
Release date	23 March 2007 (2007-03-23)
Running time	133 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Raja lives in Mumbai with his father. Mahalakshmi goes to Bombay to get the blessings of a godwoman but since she is unable to meet Mataji immediately, she is forced to stay in Mumbai for ten days and rents a guestroom among the many run by Raja. Love blossoms between Raja and Maha and when she returns to her village Maniyoor, he follows a few days later on her invitation. After he lands there, he discovers his own link to the village.

Cast

• Arjun as Manikandan/Raja (dual role)
• Jyothika as Mahalakshmi (Maha)
• Uma as Lakshmi Manikandan
• Vadivelu as Madhayaanai
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Balasingam
• Chandrasekhar as Veerasamy
• Nalini as Mahalakshmi's mother
• P. Vasu as Mahalakshmi's grandfather
• Pasupathy
• Malavika
• Poovilangu Mohan
• Periya Karuppu Thevar
• Madhan Bob
• Aryan
• Singamuthu
• Thennavan
• Bonda Mani
• Halwa Vasu
• Priyanka as Maha's friend
• Jeeva
• O. A. K. Sundar
• Satya Prakash
• Vijay Ganesh
• Chelladurai
• Nellai Siva
• Kovai Senthil
• Siva Narayana Murthy as Mumbai Dhadha
• Sampath Ram

Production

The film was completed by mid-2005, but faced delays.^[1]

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Deva.^[2] The song "Mama Mama" from Kumudham was remixed in this film.^[3]

Song	Singers	Lyrics
"Hey Mukundha"	Karthik, Pop Shalini	Na. Muthukumar
"Inji Murappa"	Tippu, Anuradha Sriram
"Madhippukuriya"	Manikka Vinayagam, Jayalakshmi	Piraisoodan
"Mama Mama"	Tippu, Anuradha Sriram	Na. Muthukumar
"Pondicherry"	Shankar Mahadevan, Harini	Kabilan

Critical reception

S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu wrote the film "looks outdated" and added "It may not be a new storyline but with experienced artists and technicians it could have made an impression if it had been released on time".^[4] Indiareels wrote, "Taking the Pappapatti, Keeripatti issue as the crux, director Selva has tried to do something novel. But the clichés of commercial cinema had pulled his legs and stopped Selva from doing so. Being an end-to-end Arjun film, Maniganda too is no exception from thrilling action blocks. However, the movie fails to woo masses, since all the efforts were made sans logic in many scenes".^[5] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote, "The scenes are disjointed, have many loose ends, and lack uniformity and a smooth flow. It's only towards the end that it perks up. But by then it's a bit too late to salvage matters".^[6] Chennai Vision wrote, "Being an end-to-end Arjun film, Maniganda too is no exception from thrilling action blocks. However, the movie fails to woo masses, since all the efforts were made sans logic in many scenes".^[7]