Mayavan

About the film

Maayavan (transl. The Wizard) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language science fiction thriller film co written, produced and directed by C. V. Kumar. The film stars Sundeep Kishan and Lavanya Tripathi while Jackie Shroff, Daniel Balaji, Mime Gopi, R. Amarendran, Bagavathi Perumal, and Jayaprakash play supporting roles. The film features music composed by Ghibran, cinematography by Gopi Amarnath, and editing by Leo John Paul. The film was launched in February 2016 and released on 14 December 2017. It was dubbed in Telugu as Project Z.

Plot

Police inspector Kumaran (Sundeep Kishan) witnesses a brutal murder and chases the killer Dheena (Sai Dheena). Dheena then traps and attacks him. Just before Dheena can kill him, however, Kumaran overpowers and kills him in self-defense. The near-death experience leaves Kumaran with severe PTSD, forcing him to take medical leave. Four months later, Kumaran rejoins the police force. The first case Kumaran investigates after returning is the murder of actress Vishma (Akshara Gowda), which bears striking similarities to the one committed by Dheena. The prime suspect, her makeup artist Gopi (Mime Gopi), is on the run.

Kumaran's team eventually locates Gopi and moves in to arrest him. As he is cornered by the police, Gopi makes several cryptic statements, claiming that Vishma was his second victim, that the first murder was the one witnessed by Kumaran, and that he himself died during that murder. He also remarks that his current body is "useless" and that he will simply die again before committing suicide. Seeking to understand Gopi's words, Kumaran visits the families of both Dheena and Gopi. Both families reveal that shortly before their deaths, the two men underwent sudden personality changes. They failed to recognize their loved ones and developed identical new habits and abilities, behaving as though they were possessed.

Another murder soon occurs, with the victim being Narayanan, one of the country's leading neurologists. The murder closely resembles those committed by Dheena and Gopi. The investigation suggests that Narayanan might be acquainted with the famous writer Rudhran. Kumaran questions Rudhran and notices that he is displaying many of the same unusual habits previously exhibited by Dheena and Gopi. Rudhran's assistants confirm that these behavioral changes appeared only recently. Fearing that Rudhran may become the next killer and victim, Kumaran asks him to remain under police protection for a few days. Rudhran refuses. Kumaran then deliberately provokes him into assaulting a police officer, allowing the police to arrest him and place him in custody.

Production

Film producer C. V. Kumar began his first directorial project in June 2014 and signed on Naveen Chandra to play the lead role. The film began production during the same month and was titled Mayavan, with K. S. G. Venkatesh also signed on to play a pivotal role. Santhosh Narayanan was revealed to be the film's music composer and the launch event was attended by a few of the producer's close friends. The film was later delayed and subsequently shelved.

C. V. Kumar began working on the film again during September 2015, when it was announced that Sundeep Kishan would replace Naveen in the lead role, while Kumar would produce the film alongside the studio, Studio Green. Kumar revealed that he had also approached Vijay Sethupathi to play the lead role, but his unavailability prompted him to sign on Sundeep. The team initially tried to sign actress Lavanya Tripathi to play the lead female role, but her busy schedule meant that the team went on to hold unsuccessful negotiations with actresses Keerthy Suresh and Amyra Dastur for the role. Taapsee Pannu then signed on to appear in the leading female role, while Kumar worked on the script alongside Nalan Kumarasamy, who wrote the venture's dialogues and screenplay. However, the film became delayed further and evaded its starting date in October.

Tripathi later became available and signed on to play the leading female role after Pannu became busy with her commitments in Hindi films during February 2016. The film was officially launched in mid February 2016, with Ghibran announced as the film's composer and Gopi Amarnath as the cinematographer. Daniel Balaji, Jayaprakash, Bagavathi Perumal, and Mime Gopi were also added to the cast, as the film began production in Chennai.

Release

The film was release on 14 December 2017.

Critical reception

M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5 stars out of 5 stating, "One of the best things about Maayavan is how it manages to keep us guessing until it reveals the killer". Baradwaj Rangan wrote for Film Companion, "CV Kumar has terrific instincts as a producer — he single-handedly created a parallel economy from sensible, stylish, low-budget cinema. But as a filmmaker, he's functional at best."

Sequel

In May 2024, a sequel was announced titled MaayaOne, with C. V. Kumar and Sundeep Kishan reprising their roles as director and lead.

Key details