Mayakkam Enna

<p>Karthik Swaminathan, an introvert, referred to as ‘Genius’ by his friends, is a who aspires to become a like Madhesh Krishnasamy. His friends Sunder Ramesh, Shankar, Padmini, and Vindhya support him and his sister after the death of their parents. One day, Sunder introduces Yamini as his girlfriend to Karthik and his friends. On their first meeting, Karthik and Yamini have a bitter experience but slowly develop a special bond. Karthik tries to stay away from Yamini since he does not want to break his friend’s heart, but a sequence of events brings them closer. Eventually, Sunder’s father arranges for Karthik and Yamini to be married. After their wedding, Karthik learns that Madhesh had used a photograph that he had taken to win a national award. After this incident, he turns into a physically abusive , and people start doubting his sanity and his mental health is somewhat affected. Yamini supports him, hoping that he will succeed one day. Days later when the residents of Karthik’s house berate Karthik behind his back in front of Yamini, she gets angry and defensive and supports her husband. After watching TV where he sees Madhesh win an award for his photo, Karthik starts breaking the TV and accidentally pushes Yamini in a fit of rage. This leads to Yamini’s . Yamini returns a few days later from the hospital and stops talking to Karthik entirely. This makes Karthik come to terms with reality, and he mends his ways. He finally gets a break and becomes a professional wildlife photographer, and one of his photographs gets nominated for an , which he wins. On this occasion, Karthik thanks everyone for their support and Yamini for her faith in him and declares his love for her. Yamini finally relents and talks to Karthik. Then Karthik says thanks to Madhesh where the film ends. was initially approached by Selvaraghavan, to do the lead female role. Though she liked the role, she wasn’t ready to accept the role as her son Dev was getting 1 year old. Later, replaced her. Selvaraghavan began the film featuring and Richa Gangopadhyay, who had initially been signed to do another film with him. Richa began shooting for the film in in May 2011, and the film was wrapped up within three months. The title was finally changed to from ‘Idhu Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam’ in August 2011, with reports suggesting that Dhanush would sport four different looks in the film. Selvaraghavan has since made it clear that the film has a totally different script from the film that had been shelved. It was said that Dhanush would be seen in various stages, as a boy just out of his teenage to an old man. replaced as music composer in the film, with the latter reporting it was due to “money and time issues”. However, in a sensational turn, G. V. Prakash Kumar was assigned again as composer after Yuvan Shankar Raja moved out of the project as he was busy with other commitments and could not give priority to Selvaraghavan, who was in rush to complete the film and move over to his next project, . On 24 May 2011, it was announced that Selvaraghavan was ousted from the project. The soundtrack, composed by in his second collaboration with Selvaraghavan (after ), was released on 23 September 2011 at ‘s Chennai station. The soundtrack has received generally positive reviews. Made on a budget of ₹40 crore and produced in 80 days, the movie underwent a 50-day theatrical run ending on 10 January 2012 to become an average grosser. The film received positive reviews from critics and audience. wrote that Selvaraghavan had “succeeded in presenting a sensitive and engaging movie”. gave 3.5 out of 5, citing: “…with he [Dhanush] proves why he is one of the best actors around”. gave 3.5 out of 5 and stated that it had a “fresh appeal and is straight from the heart without any clichéd frills”. wrote: “A sensitively crafted screenplay, deft narration, stunning vignettes and montages, and a brilliant performance by the lead pair, makes a fascinating watch”. wrote that it was “entertaining and worth a watch”. stated it was a film “with soul and worth a watch”. In regard to Dhanush’s performance, it wrote: “His myriad emotions elevate the movie to a great extent”. The review in says: “Selvaraghavan knows where his potential lies and has tapped it suitably.” Pavithra Srinivasan of gave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote: “[It] has a brilliant first half but the film loses the steam in the second half”. Sify claimed: “Simplistic story with a hard hitting impact, will stay with you”. Behindwoods rated 3.5/5 and called it “emotionally rich” and an “inebriating experience by itself”. Indiaglitz cited that it does “mesmerize you and you will definitely consider watching this film more than once”. wrote that it was a “treat for youngsters”.</p>