Maanga (film)

Maanga is a 2015 Indian Tamil language science fiction comedy film directed by debutant R. S. Raja and produced by P. C. K. Sakthivel. The film features Premgi Amaren and Advaitha in the lead roles, while Leema Babu, Ilavarasu, Manobala, Srinivasan, and Rekha appear in supporting roles. The music was composed by Premgi with cinematography by R. S. Selva and editing by Suresh Urs. The film was released on 11 September 2015.

Cast

 * Premji as Shiva / Vishwanatha Moorthy
 * Advaitha as Joshita
 * Leema Babu as Alamu
 * Ilavarasu as Nambirajan
 * Manobala as Rengasamy Nagarajan
 * Srinivasan
 * Rekha as Samyuktha
 * Chaams as Kalakkal
 * T. P. Gajendran as Petthiah
 * Thennavan
 * Amarasigamani
 * Vengal Rao

Production
The film was launched at an event in Chennai in March 2013, with Premgi Amaren reported to play a dual role in the film apart from composing the film's songs. He revealed it would be the first film which would feature him as the sole lead actor after previous ventures including 2010 Bhagyaraj had failed to be completed. Filming began later that month with Thambi Ramaiah and Manobala filming scenes in Chennai. Advaitha was selected to play the film's heroine while Leema Babu will also play a role.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Premgi Amaren. The audio was released on 1 April 2015.

Critical reception
Indiaglitz wrote "Debutante director R.S. Raja has tried to present "Maanga" as a film with loads of fun and horror elements though the film cannot be fixed under the "Horror-comedy" genre. The film also apparently aims to be considered as a science fiction but everything related to the scientific invention of the lead character is presented in a funny way. So one could not be clear whether the intention of such scenes was dealing with science or making us laugh". The Times of India wrote "The film feels like a hodgepodge of movie references, bad science, and lazily written jokes put together in a manner that is hardly competent".