Maari 2

Maari 2 is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Balaji Mohan. It is a sequel to his 2015 film Maari. Dhanush, besides producing the film under his company Wunderbar Films, also stars as the title character, reprising his role from the first film.[1] The film also stars Krishna, Tovino Thomas, Sai Pallavi and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in prominent roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Om Prakash and editing by Prasanna GK. The film was released on 21 December 2018 to mixed reviews from critics.[2]

Maari 2
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBalaji Mohan
Written byBalaji Mohan
Produced byDhanush
Starring
CinematographyOm Prakash
Edited byPrasanna GK
Music byYuvan Shankar Raja
Production
company
Distributed byGovindha Arts
Release date
  • 21 December 2018 (2018-12-21)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

Maariyappan alias Maari is a fun-loving gangster whose sidekicks are Sanikkizhamai and Robert, alias Adithangi ('punching bag'). Maari is chased around by Araathu Aanandi, an auto rickshaw driver who is head-over-heels in love with him. However, try as she might, Maari does not give her a second glance and constantly shows his annoyance to her.

Meanwhile, Beeja, alias "Thanathos", has escaped from prison, after killing two officers. He is out for vengeance against Maari as his brother, who was a defence lawyer, promised to get Beeja released from prison. Unfortunately, his brother is killed at the hands of Maari as the former tried to molest Aanandi's elder sister. This is also the reason why Aanandi loves Maari. While coming back after a party, Maari gets attacked, Aanandi takes him to the hospital and takes care of him. Kalai's brother Vallavan is shown to be hand-in-glove with Singayya, who has formed an alliance with Beeja to overthrow Maari.

As per Beeja's plan, Vallavan asks Sani to send Aanandi for a job, which turns out to be drug smuggling. Aanandi unknowingly goes to do the job and gets caught by Kalai. On confronting Aanandi, she tells him that Maari asked her to do it. This sparks a doubt for Kalai. Vallavan is caught by Maari carrying drugs, and when Maari confronts Kalai, a fight erupts. Maari and his sidekicks set fire to all the drugs, and Beeja kills Vallavan to make it look as though Maari killed him. Kalai becomes enraged and orders his men to kill Maari. Maari is injured in the battle, and Beeja reveals himself as the perpetrator and shoots Maari, but Maari is saved by Aanandi, who took the bullet for him, which ended up in her spinal cord, paralysing her for life.

Vijaya Chamundeshwari is the newly appointed DC, who comes out to restore order and stop all gang violence. Maari goes into hiding with Aanandi, whose legs are paralysed. Eight years pass, Beeja and Kalai have grown to become rich dons, but when Kalai has a clear chance to become the MLA candidate of the ruling party, Beeja usurps that chance by threatening Kalai and his family. Vijaya, now the Deputy-Home secretary, in an effort to find Maari, posts his picture along with Aanandi's on newspapers. Maari meets Vijaya, requesting her to remove the photos. Maari then reveals that he was living in Tenkasi with an elderly couple.

Aanandi got pregnant, and a healthy baby boy was born. However, due to complications from paralysis, Aanandi dies minutes after childbirth. Maari then raises the boy, called Kaali, with help from the old couple, Sani and Robert. Kaali is shown to have inherited Maari's behaviour and keeps picking fights in school. Maari then requests Vijaya to stop coming after him as he changed his ways. When Kaali sees some students teasing a teacher, he complains about them to the principal. In retribution, the boys chase and attack him, only to get thrashed by Kaali. The council's area member, who is also father of one of the boys, calls Kaali to hit him, but Maari goes and begs for forgiveness.

Meanwhile, the city police commissioner mentions to the media that there is an informer within Beeja's gang. Using his moles in the police department, Beeja tries to figure out who the mole is but fails. It is then revealed that there was not any mole and that the whole story was fabricated to identify the corrupt policemen in the department, including the commissioner. Also, Beeja has been in ties with the commissioner and was the mole himself. He had been leaking information about his men so that he may come out clear to become an MLA candidate.

It is also revealed that despite begging for forgiveness, the counsellor insisted on his son beating up Kaali, and so Maari beats up the counsellor and his henchmen. In a final encounter, the police turn against Beeja. Maari fights Beeja and paralyses him for revenge for Aanandi and reveals to him that Maari killed his brother because Beeja could be killed by his own brother for wealth. Soon Beeja gets sentenced to a life term in prison. Maari is then shown with his sidekicks continuing his old life and also reunites with Kalai.

Cast
  • Dhanush as Maari a.k.a. Maariyappan – Aanandi's lover turned husband, Kaali's father and also a local gangster who pesters the citizens in the Chennai vicinity and extorts money from them
  • Krishna as Kalai – Maari's best friend
  • Tovino Thomas as Gangadhar Beeja (Thanatos) – The Main Antagonist
  • Sai Pallavi as "Araathu" Aanandhi / Aanandhi Maariyappan – an auto driver turned Maari's wife, a paralyzed lady and Kaali's mother
  • Varalaxmi Sarathkumar as Vijaya Chamundeswari IAS, a new city collector, posted to control the rowdies and gang war in chennai, post leap become a Deputy Home Secretary.
  • Vidya Pradeep as Anbarasi – Kalai's wife
  • Robo Shankar as Sanikkizhamai (Sani) – Maari's henchman also his friend
  • Kalloori Vinoth as Robert (Adithangi) – Maari's henchman also his friend
  • Kaali Venkat as SI Aarumugam
  • Master Raghavan as Kaali Maariyappan – Maari and Aanandhi's son
  • Manobala as Kaali's school principal
  • Aadukalam Naren as Police Commissioner – corrupted police officer
  • E. Ramdoss as Police Assistant Commissioner
  • Aranthangi Nisha as "Attu" Aanandi – Aanandhi's best friend
  • Vincent Asokan as Advocate, Beeja's brother
  • Avinash Raghudevan as Kalai's brother
  • Ajay Ghosh as Singayyar
  • Stunt Silva as Singayya's hit-man
  • Stalin as the Counsellor
  • Sangili Murugan as House Owner
  • Sethu Lakshmi as House Owner
  • Rock Prabhu as Police Inspector
  • Pasi Sathya as Nurse
  • M. Kamaraj as Prisoner

Production

Development

Following the release of Maari, director Balaji Mohan announced the sequel of the film in November 2015, with Dhanush again in the lead, and also hinted that the film will kickstart shooting from January 2016.[3] In an interaction with the media, the director stated that the film will have more depth to Dhanush's character.[4] The film's shoot was expected to take place in early 2017,[5] and the film's script was finalised in December 2016.[6] However, the film's first schedule was rescheduled to take place in August 2017, because of Dhanush's commitments with other projects.[7] In September 2017, Balaji Mohan said via tweet that the film will be a bilingual film in Tamil and Telugu; however, the Telugu version was dropped.[8]

Casting

On 24 September 2017, it was announced that Tovino Thomas joined the cast, portraying the antagonist.[9] A few days later, Sai Pallavi was finalised as the heroine.[10] Later actor Krishna, joined the cast on 7 October 2017.[11] Varalaxmi Sarathkumar joined the cast in December 2017.[12]

Anirudh Ravichander who composed for the film's first installment was expected to join its successor. However, Balaji Mohan announced in December 2017 that Yuvan Shankar Raja was the composer of Maari 2.[13] Om Prakash and Prasanna GK are retained as the cinematographer and editor respectively, following their work in the film's predecessor before. A. Amaran was signed as the art director respectively, replacing R. K. Vijaimurugan, who earlier handled art direction for the previous film.

Filming

The film's puja ceremony took place on 14 December 2017,[14] but principal photography began on 22 January 2018.[15] The first schedule of the film took place in Tenkasi.[16] Varalaxmi began shooting for her portions in mid-February.[17] The makers completed 40% of the film's shoot before the strike announced by Tamil Film Producers Council on 16 March 2018,[18] and resumed shooting in April after the strike called off.[19] The song sequence for "Rowdy Baby" was filmed on 2 August, under the supervision of dance choreographer Prabhu Deva.[20] After the song sequence was filmed, the makers wrapped principal photography on 24 August 2018.[21]

Music
Maari 2
Soundtrack album by
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Released5 November 2018
Recorded2018
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length12:45
LanguageTamil
LabelWunderbar Studios
Divo
ProducerYuvan Shankar Raja
Dhanush
Yuvan Shankar Raja chronology
Sandakozhi 2
(2018)		 Maari 2
(2018)		 Kanne Kalaimaane
(2019)
Singles from Maari 2
  1. "Rowdy Baby"
    Released: 25 October 2018 (2018-10-25)

Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the soundtrack album and background score for Maari 2, collaborating with Dhanush once again after a 10-year hiatus, since their last film Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008). It also marks the composer's first collaboration with Balaji Mohan. The audio rights of the film are secured by the production house's subsidiary audio label Wunderbar Studios, with Divo as their digital partner. The album features three tracks written by Dhanush and Yuvan Shankar Raja himself and was released on 5 November 2018, except for one track which was released as a single.

"Rowdy Baby", sung by Dhanush and Dhee, was released as the first single on 25 October 2018. The video song which was released on YouTube in January 2019, received positive reviews for the choreography as well as its picturisation. On 16 November 2020, it became the first south Indian song to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.[22] The other two songs "Maari Gethu" sung by Dhanush, Chinnaponnu, V. M. Mahalingam and Yuvan Shankar Raja, with lyrics penned by the latter and "Maari's Anandhi", written by Dhanush, and sung by Ilaiyaraaja and M. M. Manasi, was released as a part of the soundtrack album.

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Rowdy Baby"DhanushDhanush, Dhee4:41
2."Maari Gethu"Yuvan Shankar RajaDhanush, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Chinnaponnu, V. M. Mahalingam3:46
3."Maari's Anandhi"DhanushIlaiyaraaja, M. M. Manasi4:19
Total length:12:45

Release

Maari 2 was released on 21 December 2018.[23] The film was later dubbed and released in Hindi as Maari on YouTube on 15 July 2019 by Goldmines Telefilms. The Hindi dubbed version crossed more than 150 million views.[24]

Awards and nominations

References
  1. "Dhanush's Maari 2 Is Trending. Here's Why". NDTV. 28 September 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  2. Iyengar, Anusha (21 December 2018). "Maari 2 movie review: Dhanush and Sai Pallavi's sequel is a complete mass entertainer with a dash of nostalgia". Times Now. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  3. "Would Maari 2 Begin from End of Maari?". The New Indian Express. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  4. "Maari 2 will have more depth to Dhanush's character". Only Kollywood. 30 January 2016. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. "Maari 2 to kickoff from early 2017". Only Kollywood. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. Dhanush [@dhanushkraja] (18 December 2016). "Guess what I got :) final draft of Mari 2 script from @directormbalaji  !! #hewillbeback #donudonudonu #senjiruven" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. "Hollywood project in May, Maari 2 in August: Dhanush". Only Kollywood. 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  8. "Dhanush's 'Maari 2' to be made as Tamil-Telugu bilingual".
  9. "Tovino Thomas on board as the villain for Maari 2". Deccan Chronicle. 26 September 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. "Sai Pallavi signs second Tamil film, 'Maari 2' it is!". The News Minute. 29 September 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. "New addition to cast of 'Maari 2', Krishna signed as second lead". The News Minute. 7 October 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. "Varalaxmi Sarathkumar joins the cast of Dhanush's Maari 2". Hindustan Times. 28 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. "Yuvan Shankar Raja, Dhanush reunite after a decade for Maari 2". Hindustan Times. 26 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  14. Chennai Times [@ChennaiTimesTOI] (1 January 2018). "Pooja stills of @dhanushkraja & @Sai_Pallavi92's #Maari2 that happened on December 14th! Shoot of the film directed by @directormbalaji to start from this month!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. "Maari 2 and Suriya 36 commence". The New Indian Express. 22 January 2018. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  16. "Maari 2 shooting underway in Tenkasi". Sify. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  17. "Varalaxmi Sarathkumar begins shooting for Dhanush's 'Maari 2'". The New Indian Express. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  18. "Balaji Mohan's latest update on Dhanush's Maari 2". Sify. 16 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  19. "'Maari 2': Dhanush and Balaji Mohan resume film's shoot". The Times of India. 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  20. "Prabhu Deva to choreograph the last song in 'Maari 2'". Sify. 2 August 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  21. "Dhanush's 'Maari 2' shoot wrapped up". The News Minute. 13 August 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  22. "Rowdy Baby garners 1 billion views on YouTube". The Indian Express. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  23. "'Maari 2' to release on December 21". Sify. Archived from the original on 27 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  24. Maari 2 (Maari) 2019 New Released Full Hindi Dubbed Movie | Dhanush, Sai Pallavi, Krishna, retrieved 2 October 2021
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