Maaveeran (2023 film)

Maaveeran (also marketed as Maaveeran: Veerame Jeyam) is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language superhero film directed by Madonne Ashwin and produced by Shanti Talkies. The film stars Sivakarthikeyan in the titular role, alongside Aditi Shankar, Saritha, Mysskin, Monisha Blessy, Yogi Babu and Sunil. In the film, Sathya, a cartoonist, starts hearing a voice after an accident, which tries to make him kill a corrupt minister, Jeyakodi.

The film was officially announced in July 2022 under the official title Maaveeran, and was later, near release, subtitled with Veerame Jeyam. Principal photography commenced in August 2022. It was shot predominantly in Chennai, along with Pondicherry, and wrapped by early-June 2023. The music was composed by Bharath Sankar, with cinematography and editing handled by Vidhu Ayyanna and Philomin Raj respectively.

Maaveeran was initially scheduled to release on 11 August 2023, but was preponed to avoid a box-office clash with Jailer. The film was released on 14 July 2023 to positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success at the box office.

Plot
Sathya is a comic book artist who writes and illustrates a comic strip about a brave warrior named Maaveeran for the Tamil newspaper Dhina Thee. However, he is also a coward who has been unable to stand up for himself, ever since his father was killed several years ago in his fight against the existing system. He allows an employee at Dhina Thee to take credit for Maaveeran due to his cowardice. Nila, a sub-editor at the paper, takes a stand on Sathya's behalf, securing him the same job that he was being exploited for. Eventually, both fall in love.

Sathya and his family, comprising his widowed mother, Eshwari, and younger sister, Raji, along with his neighbours, are forced to move out of their slum and relocate to a high-rise apartment building by the Government of Tamil Nadu to improve their living conditions. But within a few hours of moving in, the apartment's flaws get exposed as a result of shoddy construction, crumbling walls due to unstable foundation, broken doors, poorly installed windows, and the ceiling falling apart. Eshwari confronts the contractor, Dhanraj, as well as the local councillor Paguthi, who refuses to accept the uninhabitable conditions. Still, Sathya implores his mother to "adjust" to the conditions, instead showing his frustration via Maaveeran comic strips. Eventually, when Raji is sexually harassed by Dhanraj and Sathya is unable to do anything about it, a livid Eshwari vents out her frustration on Sathya and his cowardice and throws away all of his Maaveeran strips as well as his drawing material.

Distraught, Sathya attempts suicide by trying to jump from the top floor of the apartment, but just as he has second thoughts about doing so, the shoddy construction makes way and he slips and falls, suffering a serious head injury. Kumar, a contractor, spots him and, along with Eshwari and Raji, admits him to the hospital. Sathya, minutes after being admitted, dies. It is at this juncture that Sathya, on coming alive, begins to experience the presence of a mysterious voice. The newfound voice, speaking like the narrator of the Maaveeran strip, takes precedence over Sathya's actions, compelling him to follow its suggestions when making decisions in his life, ranging from trivial matters to significant choices. In the course of the voice's guidance, Sathya crosses swords with the corrupt Housing Minister, M. N. Jeyakodi, whose department is responsible for building the apartment and whom the voice claims as Sathya's "worst enemy". Sathya, due to the voice's guidance, unwillingly takes on Jeyakodi, Dhanraj, Paguthi, and their men to further expose the apartment's poor construction. This makes him a hero in the eyes of the apartment dwellers, including Eshwari and Raji.

Jeyakodi's Secretary and best friend, Paramu, comes to know of the mysterious voice guiding Sathya and Sathya's reluctance to fight Jeyakodi and decides to use it to benefit Jeyakodi. He convinces Sathya to reveal on live television the voice forcing him to fight Jeyakodi and claim that the apartment construction is bad, claiming that Jeyakodi would leave him alone if he did so. This causes Sathya to be framed as a "mentally unstable" person, and his family is thrown out of the apartment, leaving them homeless. Further, Jeyakodi refuses to forgive Sathya and brutally beats him up, but Sathya refuses to fight back, despite the voice telling him to do so. Finally, Sathya dies. After he wakes up again, the voice stops, claiming that Sathya betrayed his family and the apartment dwellers for his gain.

Sathya returns to see his family homeless and feels guilty for the same. On Nila's advice, he decides to "create his own story" and take on Jeyakodi as well as expose the apartment's construction, even though the voice is no longer guiding him. In the process, he is willingly kidnapped by Jeyakodi and taken to his go-down, in the hopes of procuring the evidence of the unsafe construction of the apartment complex. Paramu is killed by Jeyakodi when he advises him to reveal to the public that the apartment can collapse at any time and also evacuate the dwellers as failing to do so would cost him the upcoming election. Jeyakodi's men throw Paramu's body into the sea and Sathya drowns himself. After Sathya comes back alive, he begins to hear the mysterious voice again, this time much to his happiness. He returns to the apartment, where he unsuccessfully tries to convince the dwellers to evacuate the apartment as it would collapse at any moment.

Jeyakodi arrives at the apartment and mocks Sathya, prompting him to challenge Jeyakodi to stay in the apartment if he is fully sure that it will not collapse. Jeyakodi refuses to do so, which makes the apartment dwellers believe Sathya and they all evacuate, just in time before the apartment starts collapsing, with the apartment sign falling on Jeyakodi, crushing him to death. Sathya then realizes that one of the dwellers, his neighbour's daughter, Ilavarasi, is still trapped in the apartment, and rushes to save her. While he manages to save her, at the same time, the apartment collapses with Sathya still inside. In the aftermath of the collapse, the dwellers all search for Sathya. He is found beneath the rubble wreckage but is seemingly dead.

Two years later, with another government in place, the apartment is being rebuilt, this time with the dwellers in a loop and strong construction. It is also revealed that Sathya miraculously survived the apartment collapse and still works for Dhina Thee, writing and illustrating Maaveeran, but the incident has left him permanently deaf. However, his reflexes have sharpened. Ilavarasi approaches Sathya with a question about his survival and it becomes clear that the enigmatic voice has reappeared, which breathed life back into Sathya in the aftermath of the apartment collapse.

Cast
Voice cast
 * Vijay Sethupathi as The Voice, narrator for Sathya (Tamil version).
 * Ravi Teja as The Voice, narrator for Sathya (Telugu version).

Development
In December 2021, it was reported that Sivakarthikeyan had signed his next venture after Don (2022) and his film with K. V. Anudeep, which became Prince (2022). Madonne Ashwin, who previously directed the critically acclaimed 2021 film Mandela, was reported to direct the venture, while Ishari K. Ganesh, under the banner of Vels Films International, would produce it and production was set to begin in July 2022. On 15 July, Arun Viswa of Shanti Talkies officially announced the project, stating he would produce it. The official title, Maaveeran, was announced the same day. Bharath Shankar, who worked with Ashwin for Mandela, was chosen to compose the score, while Vidhu Ayyanna was chosen to handle the cinematography. A muhurat puja was held on 3 August with the presence of the film's cast and crew at a film city in Chennai.

Casting
Sivakarthikeyan played a cartoonist named Sathya, who starts hearing a voice in his head after an accident. In June 2022, Mysskin was reported to play the antagonist. His commitments to the film was confirmed in August. He played the role as the antagonist in the film as Jeyakodi, a politician. Kiara Advani was reported to play the lead female, however, in August, Aditi Shankar was announced playing the lead female role, doing so for second time after Viruman (2022). She played the role as Nila, Sathya's love interest and the sub-editor for newspaper company Dina Thee. Along with Aditi, Saritha was also announced doing a role in the film. She was last seen in Ceylon (2013), marking Maaveeran as her 10-years comeback to the film industry. She played Eshwari, the mother of Sathya and Raji. Yogi Babu played as an construction worker named Kumar. Maaveeran marked the eighth collaboration of Yogi Babu and Sivakarthikeyan. Telugu-actor Sunil played the role as Paramu, Jeyakodi's personal assistant. Monisha Blessy played Raji, Sathya’s sister and Eshwari's daughter. The film marked her acting debut. Vijay Sethupathi was cast as the voice in Sathya's head, and charged no remuneration.

Filming
Principal photography began in start of August 2022. The first schedule happened in Chennai for a month and had completed all the major portions. In November, 40 percent of the shooting was done. In March 2023, the final schedule started in Pondicherry. In the very same month, Sivakarthikeyan finished shooting his portions. Principal photography wrapped after shooting some patch works by 3 June.

Post-production
Sivakarthikeyan started dubbing his portions in late-May 2023 and finished in early-June. Aditi started dubbing for her portions in early-June.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack and background score were composed by Bharath Sankar in his first collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan and second with Madonne after Mandela. The audio rights were bagged by Saregama. The first single "Scene Ah Scene Ah" was released on 17 February 2023, on the occasion of Sivakarthikeyan's birthday. The second single "Vannarapettayila" was released on 14 June, and the third single "Vaa Veera" on 7 July.

Release
Maaveeran released theatrically on 14 July 2023. The film was initially scheduled for release on 11 August 2023, however, to avoid a box office clash with Jailer, the makers advanced it to 14 July. The distribution rights for the film in Tamil Nadu were bought by Red Giant Movies and in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states by Asian Cinemas.

Home media
The film's streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video for ₹33 crore, while the satellite rights were sold to Sun TV Network. The film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 11 August 2023 in Tamil, along with dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi languages.

Reception
Maaveeran received positive reviews from critics.

Soundarya Athimuthu of The Quint gave 4 out of 5 and wrote that "'Sivakarthikeyan’s well-crafted fantasy action entertainer." M Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote "Sivakarthikeyan shines in an engaging but overlong fantasy entertainer." Janaki K. of India Today gave the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Maaveeran is yet another solid entertainer that makes you enjoy and retrospect. It brings forth prevailing issues, such as corruption, poverty and petty politics. But, it is also a character study of how people will have to revolt for their basic rights."

Swami Ji Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Maaveeran is a story about the inner voice that asks you to do the right thing, driving home a point to those who turn a blind eye until the waves crash their homes; Siva aces this high-concept actioner that also respects commercial cinema sensibilities." Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote "Sivakarthikeyan’s superhero film is good but predictable." Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama wrote "All in all, Maaveeran is an immensely captivating and enjoyable film, which can arguably be seen as Sivakarthikeyan's comeback in Tamil cinema."

Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute gave the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote "Sivakarthikeyan’s superhero film is simple and mostly fun." P Sangeetha of OTTplay gave the film 3.5 out of 5, stating, "Madonne Ashwin's Maaveeran is laced with a gripping screenplay, hilarious one-liners, mass moments and some fantastic performances. While the role of Sathya seems to be tailor-made for Sivakarthikeyan, Yogi Babu, Mysskin and Saritha's performances, too, pack a punch. And needless to say, Vijay Sethpathi's voiceover elevates the film to a different level. In short, Maaveeran is a delight to watch."

Sudhir Srinivasan of Cinema Express gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating, "It's a time in our cinema when talented filmmakers like Madonne Ashwin are showing that they are unafraid of punching up." Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost rated the film 3.5 out of 5, stating, "Director Madonne Ashwin has taken a simple story of a man finding courage during dark times and made it into a comedy that left the theatre echoing rousing cheers and loud laughter." Ashwin Ram of MovieCrow gave the film 3.5 out of 5, stating, "Cracker of an entertainer that is packaged with theatre moments throughout but never goes out of the story. Second half could have been crisper, yet a paisa-vasool flick with many interesting elements." Ananda Vikatan gave the film 45 out of 100.

Krishna Selvaseelan of the Tamil Guardian awarded the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing, “‘Maaveeran’ is an entertaining film; it has the usual blend of what the Tamil audience loves about the masala formula, with a twist to the tale which elevates the narrative.”