Maya Kannadi

<p>Kumar is a young man who comes from to with dreams and hopes about the future. He gets a job in a men’s beauty parlor in Chennai. Every day, he observes and learns more about life in the city. He starts to dream and build castles in the air. Maheswari works in another beauty parlor and also has desires of her own. The rest of the story is about what happens to these two people. This three hour-long film has similar themes compared to Cheran’s previous films. The key message in this film is that each person’s life is in his or her own hands. , who earlier worked as producer, made his acting debut with this film. Cheran, who plays a barber, learnt and practiced haircutting for his role. He also spent four days rehearsing for a dance sequence. Soundtrack was composed by . Shwetha Bhaskar of wrote, “A brave film indeed for not resorting to the usual cliches and daring to go where very few filmmakers dare to go — the ordinary realm of the despondency of the common man.” wrote, “We wish Cheran had whipped up a more winsome screenplay with Mayakannadi, which is based on middle class dreams turning sour due to lack of commitment. It’s nowhere in the league of the talented director’s previous works like Autograph or Thavamai Thavamirunthu.” Malathi Rangarajan of wrote “Cheran’s much awaited film does not live up to its expectations. One does not know what Cheran wants to convey through Chellammai Celluloids “Maayakkannaadi,” in which positive aspect is thoroughly missing”. Lajjavathi of praised Cheran for narrative style despite finding the message of giving up dreams rather weird while praising the acting of Cheran and other actors, found Ilayaraja’s songs as average but praised Dwarakanath’s cinematography and concluded saying Cheran has a good sense of what people expect from him through “Maya Kannadi”. Cheran must be thankful for this time glass that is useful for that!. Malini Mannath of wrote, “Cheran steps away from the rural milieu and into a totally urban-centric plot in ‘Mayakkanadi’. The director-hero, while conveying a relevant message through his film, keeps the proceedings fairly engaging for the most part. But what is missing here is the sense of completeness which we had experienced while watching the director’s earlier films”.</p>