Mandhira Punnagai

Mandhira Punnagai
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Karu Pazhaniappan
Produced by	Karthic Nagarajan
Written by	Karu Pazhaniappan
Story by	Surya Karu Pazhaniappan
Starring	Karu Pazhaniappan Meenakshi Santhanam Rishi
Music by	Vidyasagar
Cinematography	Ramanath Shetty
Edited by	Raja Mohammad
Production company	Indira Pictures
Distributed by	Indira Pictures
Release dates	19 November 2010 (2010-11-19)
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Mandhira Punnagai (Tamil: மந்திர புன்னகை),(English: Mystic Smile) is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language psychological thriller-drama film written and directed by Karu Pazhaniappan, starring himself in the lead role, along with Meenakshi and Santhanam. The film was released on 19 November 2010.

Plot

The film tells the story of an architect, Kathir (Karu Pazhaniappan), who is talented but also forthright in his dealings whether in office or in his personal life. He doesn't have any girlfriend or many friends whether at work or in personal life. When he is asked to design a spanking new showroom for Honda Dealership, Nandini (Meenakshi) one of the employees there meets Kathir in connection with the new design and falls in love with Kathir's forthrightness unbeknownst to him. He doesn't pay much attention to Meenakshi's overtures initially, perhaps influenced by his troubled childhood. He is approached by Shankar (Rishi), Nandini's colleague who happens to like her, to find out what it is that attracts her to Kathir, for which Kathir drags Shankar to Nandini's house and asks him to convey his love for Nandini himself. This increases Nandini's attraction towards Kathir's straightforward attitude. Gradually, Kathir starts to like her but at the same time he also fears that she is cheating on him and tries to kill her. He goes to the police station confessing his crime that he killed her. When police come to find the body in his apartment, they are unable to find the body. Kathir's friend Manmadha Naidu (Thambi ramaiah) says that last night Kathir was talking to himself and broken all the things in a fit of anger (When Kathir saw Nandini sleeping with Srikanth, Kathir got angry broken all the things imagining himself as killing Nandhini). Kathir had a troubled childhood where his mother committed suicide after her illegal affair with his father's friend came to light, his father also died at the same time, which made him to view things in a different light. In the end, Nandini claimed that she planned things to make him reform him but Kathir in anger says that he celebrate people dying. In next scene, kathir receives a call that nandini had committed suicide he immediately goes to hospital and finds out that nandini didn't commit suicide and she gave him shock to make him realize the wrongdoings. The film ends with Nandini and Kathir uniting, reflection of kathir's father gives acceptance.

Cast

• Karu Pazhaniappan as Kathir
• Meenakshi as Nandhini
• Santhanam as Senthil
• Rishi as Shankar
• Thambi Ramaiya as Manmadha Naidu
• Naglan Ponnusamy as Nagulan Ponnusamy
• Ammu as Senthil's wife
• Srikanth in a guest appearance
• Dhananjayan (CEO - UTV South) in a Cameo

Soundtrack

Music : Vidyasagar.^[1]

Reception

Behindwoods wrote "Although a succulent theme, director Palaniappan could have handled the plot in a coherent manner and he disappoints his audience this time as he loses his grip on them majorly. A crisper package would have definitely helped the film. In short MP lacks in a powerful and a cohesive screenplay."^[2] The Hindu wrote "Mandhira Punnagai, whose powerful subject and fairly interesting treatment deserve a wide reach, would have got it very easily if Pazhaniappan had gone in for a popular face for the role. As a director, he scores. It is the actor who needs to hone his skill."^[3] Indian Express wrote "It’s commendable that Palaniappan had taken on a challenging and an unusual theme in his first film as an actor. Manthira Punnagai comes across as promising to a film buff who’s always looking for change  from the usual formula flicks."^[4]

References

External links

• Mandhira Punnagai at the Internet Movie Database