Mark Antony

<p>In 1975, Chiranjeevi, a scientist, invents a telephone that allows its users to make calls to people in the past by selecting a date; only one call can be made for each selected date. Meanwhile, gangsters Antony and Jackie Pandian, best friends in , have a common enemy named Ekambaram. Ekambaram decides to take revenge against Antony for killing his brother. He kills Antony in a club; Chiranjeevi dies in the crossfire. Jackie soon becomes the solo kingpin, adopts Antony’s son Mark, and raises him like his own son. In 1995, Mark, now a mechanic in , hates Antony for being responsible for his mother Vedhavalli’s death. He is in love with his neighbour Ramya and decides to marry soon. He decides to sell his garage and move away from Royapuram, but Jackie disallows him, fearing for his safety. At the registrar’s office, Ekambaram tries to shoot Jackie but the latter kills him later that night. Ramya’s mother learns that Mark is Antony’s son and asks him to leave Ramya alone. One day, a drunken Mark finds Chiranjeevi’s telephone and realises its capabilities. Using the phone, he first saves his mother and younger self from Ekambaram and his men. He then warns Antony’s advocate, Selvam, about his upcoming demise and asks him to meet him in 1995 at his garage. Selvam evades death, and Mark learns from him that Antony is not a bad person and was made to believe it by Jackie, the actual mastermind behind Antony and Vedhavalli’s deaths, as Antony refused Jackie’s involvement in illegal activities like , and . Mark manages to change history by making calls to the past, where Jackie is killed. Mark soon wakes up in the present to find that he is in Jackie’s place as a gangster with Ekambaram as his guardian, while Jackie’s son Madhan is in Mark’s place as a mechanic. Madhan soon learns about the telephone and Mark’s involvement in changing history. He informs Jackie. Jackie attempts to kill Antony, but Antony survives all the attempts and learns about Jackie’s true intentions. Jackie and his men surround Antony and Ekambaram at the club, and Antony is seemingly killed. Mark awakens in the present to find himself back as a mechanic along with Ekambaram, while Jackie is still alive and Madhan is a gangster. Madhan kidnaps Ramya and orders Mark to arrive at the club godown. Mark arrives and Madhan and Jackie’s men thrash him. However, Antony arrives at the godown; it is revealed that Ekambaram saved Antony in the club shootout and had sent him to due to many of gangsters by police. Antony gained the partnership of the as Jackie usually sent to the gangsters under Antony’s name. Antony kills Jackie’s henchmen using Anaconda, a large machine gun and finally kills Jackie and Madhan. Antony reunites with Mark and calls Vedhavalli, who gets held at gunpoint by Chiranjeevi, demanding his telephone back from Antony. Jackie then holds Chiranjeevi at gunpoint, demanding to talk to Antony, who laughs and replies, “Welcome back”. In September 2021, it was reported that would team with for a film and would be produced by S. Vinod Kumar under Mini Studio. In December, it was officially confirmed by the team that they are teaming up for the tentatively titled project The same month, was reported to play the antagonist and was confirmed on New Year’s Day, along with the title , named after ‘s character from (1995). Later, was added to the crew to compose the music. In May 2022, the team announced as the female lead, while and appear in prominent roles. Vishnu Priya Gandhi, a social media influencer, was chosen by the makers to portray due to her resemblance. Make-up and visual effects were used to further enhance her resemblance to Smitha. began on 5 May 2022 with a in . The first schedule took place in Chennai, with Varma joining them in July. The shooting was placed on hold because Vishal got injured during shooting in August and resumed in October with the second schedule. The final schedule started in January 2023 and was nearing shooting completion. Suryah completed shooting his portions in April. In May, Vishal and Sunil finished their portions with a cake-cutting. Vishal started dubbing for his portions in May. In July, Vishal stated that the dubbing was in the final stages. The music was composed by in his second collaboration with Vishal after (2014) and second with Adhik after (2015). The first single “Adhirudha” released on 15 July 2023 and the second single “I Love You Di” on 23 August 2023. was released on 15 September 2023, during . According to Vishal, he had to pay a bribe of (US$7,700) to a Mumbai official to ensure its Hindi dubbed version’s release. The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film were acquired by , where it began streaming from 13 October 2023. The film had its television premiere on on 24 March 2024. reported that received positive reviews from critics, while noted they were mixed. Logesh Balachandran of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote, ” is not a great film, but it’s quite a refreshing entertainer that delivers what it promises.” Krishna Selvaseelan of gave 3/5 stars and wrote, “Overall, although oftentimes headache inducing and downright nonsensical, Ravichandran should be lauded for a unique and entertaining film”. Janani K of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote ” is a valiant effort and, with certain shortcomings, it still manages to engage the audience and leave them in splits.” Kirubhakar Purushothaman of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote “SJ Suryah single handedly saves from becoming a redundant mess.” Gautaman Bhaskaran of gave 2/5 stars and wrote, “Vishal and SJ Suryah are wasted in a whacky and crazy script.” Sangeetha P of gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote, ” , packed with many exciting and mass moments, and despite its many flaws, makes for an entertaining watch. While Vishal is back with a bang, SJ Suryah turns out to be the star of this commercial entertainer.” Bharathy Singaravel of gave 2/5 stars and wrote, “While actor Vishal plays a predictable double role as Mark and Antony, director Adhik Ravichandran has thrown in a generous helping of sexualising trans women, and homophobia.” Priyanka Sundar of gave 2/5 stars and wrote, ” squandered its potential, leaving us with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.”</p>