Muni 2: Kanchana is a 2011 Tamil comedy horror film directed, written and produced by Raghava Lawrence as a sequel to his previous venture, Muni (2007) and the second film in the installment of Muni film series. The film features himself in the lead role, with Sarathkumar as the title character, and Lakshmi Rai in other roles.
Muni 2 revolves around Raghava, who is scared to venture outside gets possessed by a ghost and starts behaving weirdly. The ghost turns out to be a transgender who wants to take revenge on a minister who murdered her and her family for land-grabbing. Muni 2’s cinematography and editing was handled by Vetri and Kishore Te. respectively. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Thaman. The film’s distribution rights was bought by Sri Thenandal Films.
The film released on 22 July 2011, while a dubbed same-titled Telugu version was released a week earlier in Andhra Pradesh. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film became a commercial success in both languages. The film was remade in Kannada as Kalpana (2012) directed by Ramanarayanan.
Raghava (Lawrence Raghavendra) is a typical jobless youth who spends his days playing cricket with friends. He suffers from an irrational fear of ghosts, and retreats to the safety of his home after sunset. His fear is so great he prefers to sleep with his mother (Kovai Sarala) and have her accompany him to the bathroom at night. This creates major annoyance in the household, including Raghava’s brother (Sriman), sister-in-law (Devadarshini) and their children.
One day, Raghava and his friends are forced to abandon their usual cricket ground and find a new one; they unwittingly select an abandoned ground which is rumored to be haunted. A bizarre weather change scares them away. Raghava brings home his cricket stumps, which have been stained with blood from a buried corpse in the ground. He focuses on wooing Priya (Lakshmi Rai), the sister of his sister-in-law. In the following days, his mother and sister-in-law are witness to several paranormal phenomena at night; prominently a ghost haunting the hallways. On consulting a priest, they perform 3 rituals to ascertain if the house is haunted:
1. They keep a coconut on a rangoli and pray to Lord Shiva. The coconut rotates on its own.
2. They make a cow eat food. The cow runs out of the house without eating the food.
3. They leave a lit lamp and two drops of blood and leave the house. A ghost of a woman appears before them and licks the blood.
Scared senseless, Raghava’s mother and sister-in-law hire two priests (Mayilsamy and Manobala) to rid their home of the ghost. The priests, however, are conmen, and escape with their lives. That night, the ghost possesses Raghava, who begins acting increasingly effeminate, alienating himself from Priya and wearing women’s clothes and jewelry. His family angrily confronts him, when it is revealed that there are actually three ghosts who have possessed him: a violent woman, a Hindi-speaking Muslim, and a mentally retarded boy. Raghava’s family hires an exorcist, who successfully drives the spirit away from Raghava’s body. The ghost of the woman, trapped, reveals her story.
Kanchana (Sarathkumar) is a transgender who was disowned by her parents. She is offered shelter by a kind Muslim Akbar Bai(Babu Antony), who has a mentally retarded son. Regretting that she couldn’t become a doctor as she intended, she adopts another young transgender, Geetha, and works hard to support her financially. When Geetha leaves to study medicine abroad, Kanchana buys a plot of land where Geetha intended to construct a hospital for the poor. That ground is unlawfully taken by crooked MLA Shankar (Devan). Kanchana angrily confronts the MLA, who cunningly kills her. He also kills Babu Antony and his son. Before she died, she vowed to kill Shankar, his wife, and his henchmen. The bodies are then buried in Kanchana’s own ground.
The exorcist sympathizes with her, but remains duty-bound and traps her. After hearing her story, Raghava is touched; risking the danger, he allows Kanchana to possess him once again. Raghava/Kanchana confronts the MLA, and disposes of his henchmen gruesomely. The MLA seeks refuge in a Narasimha temple which Kanchana is forbidden from; but she asks the deity for justice and manages to chase him inside the temple. The three spirits combined kill the MLA. A few years later, Raghava has constructed the hospital for Geetha as per Kanchana’s wishes. It is revealed that Kanchana exists symbiotically in Raghava’s body to help him out when the need rises.
Directed by Raghava Lawrence
Produced by Raghava Lawrence
Written by Raghava Lawrence
Starring Raghava Lawrence, R. Sarathkumar, Lakshmi Rai, Kovai Sarala, Devadarshini, Sriman
Music by S. Thaman
Cinematography Vetri
Edited by Kishore Te.
Production Raghavendra Productions
Distributed by Sri Thenandal Films
Release dates 22 July 2011
Running time 170 minutes
Country India
Language Tamil
Visitor Rating: 3 Stars