MGR Magan


MGR Magan is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Ponram and produced by Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd. The film stars M. Sasikumar, Sathyaraj and Mirnalini Ravi in lead roles and the music is composed by Anthony Daasan. It was released on 4 November 2021 on Disney+ Hotstar and opened to mostly negative reviews from critics with praise for its rural setting, emotional family-drama core, and some comedic moments, but criticism for its weak, incoherent screenplay, predictable plot, and below-average execution in areas like comedy and music.

Plot

The film begins with police arriving at Sivanandi's house questioning him about killing his daughter Lathapandi because she ran away with the guy she loved. Bosepandi and Kodi are two friends who are the leaders of a group called Varuthapadadha Valibar Sangam. One day, Bosepandi falls in love with Kalyani who is a teacher at a school. Bosepandi writes a love letter for her but wants someone to go give it to her so that's when he finds Lathapandi. Lathapandi gives the letter to her teacher and tricks Bosepandi into believing many things.
Sivanandi fixes a marriage for Lathapandi but she is not willing to marry because she is very young and she wants to study further. Despite her attempts, nothing stops her marriage. Her marriage is posted on a billboard which Bosepandi and Kodi decide to stop since they want their group billboard on there. They go to the police station and threaten the police that they will go to the commissioner. The police talks to Sivanandi and makes him stop the marriage. One day, Lathapandi delivers the news to Bosepandi that Kalyani is getting married. He decides to move on in life, so he arranges for a Dindigul programme to happen in his area. He sees Lathapandi in a sari and immediately falls in love with her. The same night, the police reveal to Sivanandi that the person who stopped Lathapandi's marriage was Bosepandi.
A day later he tells her about his love for her but she ignores him and says no. Bosepandi walks away listening to a sad song when a gang comes and bashes him. He later finds out that it was Sivanandi's gang who hit him. So, Bosepandi and Kodi decide to steal what Sivanandi considers his 'soul' and that is his gun. Bosepandi and Kodi steal the gun and run away and cause a lot of trouble. Bosepandi then tells Lathapandi that he will return the gun if she comes to their friends' marriage and so he returns the gun without anyone knowing. Lathapandi in return goes to that marriage and takes many photos with Bosepandi. Her mother warns her that this is not correct and she should stop it. Sivanandi's cow falls into a well when he goes out of town so Bosepandi helps to get it out. That night he stays with Lathapandi in her house and they see Sivanandi sleepwalking. After that, they wake up in the morning and they see Sivanandi walking again. This time he is awake but Bosepandi thinks he's sleepwalking again and so he tells Sivanandi about liking his daughter. Once Bosepandi finds out that Sivanandi is indeed awake, he runs out of that house.
Sivanandi then makes Lathapandi promise that she will only marry the guy who Sivanandi tells her to marry and so she does promise her dad. They fix marriage for Lathapandi but on the night before her marriage, she decides to run away with Bosepandi. When running away at night, they see Sivanandi and he tells them to run away and gives them some money so that they never come back. Sivanandi wants Bosepandi and Lathapandi to run away because he doesn't want Lathapandi to marry the guy he has chosen for her and he can't stop her marriage because he has too much respect in his village. He watches them get married and settled in a hill area. Sivanandi comes to visit the couple every day. On one visit, it is revealed that Lathapandi is pregnant. Bosepandi and Lathapandi then return to the village because Bosepandi's father had offered him more money than Sivanandi. Then the film ends with everyone laugh on each other.

Production

The principal photography of the film began on 25 September 2019 and the initial schedule of the film was shot in Theni. Mirnalini Ravi was cast in the film as the female lead opposite to M. Sasikumar. Initially Sathyaraj's role was offered to Rajkiran but he declined the offer due to the schedule conflicts. The shooting of the film completed at the end of November 2019.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack and score are composed by Anthony Daasan. The soundtrack album featured four songs written by Yugabharathi, Murugan Manthiram and Anthony Daasan.

Release

Streaming

MGR Magan was cleared by the censor board on 28 August 2020. The film was initially planned for theatrical release on Diwali 2020, but was postponed due to the delay in theatres reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The trailer of the film was released on 14 November 2020. In late November 2020, the team was planning to push the film for the Christmas release but it didn't happen. Later the film makers announced the film will be released on 23 April 2021 with the 50% occupancy in the theatres but was forced to postpone the release again due to the new lockdown restrictions imposed by the Tamil Nadu government ahead of COVID-19-second wave in India. In October 2021, the theatrical release was cancelled in favour of a direct-to-streaming release on Disney+ Hotstar, on 4 November 2021.

Home media

The satellite rights were sold to Star Vijay.

Reception

Vishal Menon of Film Companion wrote, "The father-son conflict in MGR Magan is neither pushed hard enough to make things funny nor does it succeed in creating tension." Siby Jeyya from India Herald wrote, "MGR Magan is a great family film that has a good mix of laughs, action, thrills, and emotions. If you look underneath the layer of comedy, it strives to convey a message, and even if the actors' delivery is a little sloppy at times, the concept finally catches up with you." IANS gave a rating of 2.5 out on 5 and wrote, "Ponram's 'MGR Magan' isn't bad. But it also doesn't provide us the kind of fun that his earlier films have made us expect of him." Avinash Ramachandran from Cinema Express gave a rating of 2 out on 5 and wrote, "MGR Magan manages to be is a rickety ride in a defunct carnival that had clearly seen better days."