Mann (2006 film)

Mann is a 2006 Tamil-language drama film directed by R. Pudhiyavan and starring Vijith and Shana Mahendran.

Plot
Due to civil unrest, Thankaiya and his family including his daughter Lakshmi and her fiancé Raja leave their village for another village. Raja is keen to get Lakshmi educated. However, Lakshmi falls in love with Ponrasa in school and becomes pregnant with their son. Ponrasa later rejects her and leaves to another country and a depressed Lakshmi passes away. After eighteen years, Ponrasa returns and how their son avenges their mother's death forms the rest of the story.

Cast
As per the film's end credits:

Production
The director Pudhiyavan Rasaiah, a lecturer at Kingston University, wanted to direct in his hometown of Kanakarayankulam, but did not get permission from the LTTE to shoot there. The entire film was shot in udappuwa Tamil village in Puttalam, Sri Lanka with mostly Sri Lankan actors including Shana Mahendran from Batticaloa and Vijith apart from Indian actors Vagai Chandrasekhar and Kadhal Sukumar. Filming began in July 2005 and ended in August 2005.

Soundtrack
The music was composed by German Vijay.

Release and reception
The film had a limited release in Colombo and Batticaloa before being released in India.

A critic from Indiaglitz wrote that "Pudhiyavan deserves a pat for making a sincere attempt to throw light on little known issues" such as the feudal system in northern Sri Lanka while praising the acting and cinematography. A critic from Cinesouth wrote that "Director Pudhiyavan should be congratulated for his courage in making a film of this stature. Mann is fertile" while also praising the acting and cinematography and criticising the editing. Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote that "The film takes us to an ambience of about two decades ago".

Shana Mahendran won the best actress award at a Tamil film festival in Canada in 2006.