Mankatha
Encyclopedia
Mankatha is a 2011 Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu
. It features Ajith Kumar
in the lead role, starring in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast
including Arjun
, Trisha Krishnan
, Vaibhav Reddy
, Lakshmi Rai
, Andrea Jeremiah
, Premji Amaren
and Anjali
. It was produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies
while Yuvan Shankar Raja
composed the musical score and soundtrack
, with Sakthi Saravanan
working as the cinematographer and the duo Praveen K. L.
and N. B. Srikanth
as editors. The story, set in Mumbai, revolves around a heist of cricket betting money, executed by a gang of four thieves, who are joined by a fifth unknown man, and its aftermaths.
The film was formally launched in August 2010, with its principal photography beginning on October 25, 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai
, the Dharavi
slum in Mumbai
and Bangkok
, Thailand
. Following speculations regarding the film's release, Sun Pictures
acquired the theatrical rights and distributed the film via Raadhika Sarathkumar
's Radaan Mediaworks. Mankatha released on August 31, 2011 worldwide to generally positive reviews, while marking the second highest-grossing opening for a Tamil film. The film was also dubbed into Telugu and Malayalam as Gambler and released in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala ten days later.
), an assistent commissioner of Maharashtra police, gets suspended for having saved a smuggler named Faizal (Aravind Akash
) from encounter killing and helped him escape. He starts leading life in his own way. Meanwhile, a police officer commits suicide because of the leakage of his IPL gambling plans who is revealed to be Kamal Ekambaram (Subbu Panchu). A tough cop Prithvi (Arjun
) takes charge to end betting scandal in IPL cricket in Mumbai. It is then revealed to Prithvi that Kamal faked his death
to catch the culprits in a secret mission and returns under the name Praveen Kumar. Arumuga Chettiar (Jayaprakash
), an influential local illegal business dealer and the head of Faisal, owns "Golden Theatres" in Mumbai, which has been converted into a gambling den and forms the front for all his illegal businesses. Vinayak is introduced to Arumuga Chettiyar through his girl friend Sanjana (Trisha
). Sanjana is in love with Vinayak, but Vinyak just pretends to love her. Arumuga Chettiyar uses his links with dons in Mumbai and tries to route through his old theater, a cash of over 500 crores (USD$110 million) to be used in betting.
Sumanth (Vaibhav Reddy
), a goon working for Arumuga Chettiyar, hatches a conspiracy to rob the money in the company of his friends – Ganesh (Ashwin Kakumanu
), a local Sub-Inspector, Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra
), who owns a bar in Mumbai and Mahat's friend Prem (Premji Amaren
), an IIT graduate. Vinayak befriends the boys at Sumanth's marriage with Suchithra (Anjali
). One late evening, Vinayak meets Prem, who becomes inebriated by him and reveals their heist plan. Vinayak starts spying on them and confronts them on the day of the planned heist, stepping in. Vinayak, however, has other plans. He wants to kill his four accomplices and take the entire amount. He promises to help them and divide it between them. After looting the money they leave the money in an old cafe. Both Arumuga Chettiar and the police search for them. Sumanth is caught by Faizal, but is saved by Ganesh and Vinayak. Sanjana engulfs in grief when she comes to know about Vinayak's true intentions. Meanwhile, Mahat and Prem escape with the cash and are accompanied by Sona (Lakshmi Rai
). Vinayak, Sumanth and Ganesh get to know about this. Sumanth, however, turns approver
, since his wife Suchithra has been kidnapped by Arumuga Chettiyar, but is killed when Prithvi's wife Sabitha Prithviraj (Andrea Jeremiah
) is kidnapped and threatened by Vinayak.
Sequence of events lead to the murder of the gang one by one—Mahat gets killed by Sona who betrays him, Prem is killed by Prithvi who suspects him of the robbery, and Sona gets killed by Vinayak—with Ganesh and Vinayak remaining alive. A final fight ensues between Vinayak and Prithvi. The two actually prove to be equal. At the final moment of the fight, Kamal throws a gun to Prithvi who shoots Vinayak, thus killing him. After several days, the police gets information about Ganesh to be living in Thailand. Kamal (under the name of Praveen Kumar) arrives there, but instead comes across Vinayak. Praveen confronts him and calls up Prithvi to inform him of Vinayak's presence, but then it is then revealed that Prithviraj and Vinayak are actually best friends since their college days and took trainings together. They had come to know about that betting money and operated the plan together (including Vinayak's fake death). Ganesh had also been killed by Vinayak as a part of the plan. It is implied that Praveen will also be killed by Vinayak.
was signed by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies
for a project touted to be directed by Gautham Menon
. However, as Ajith Kumar participated in the 2010 season
of the FIA Formula Two Championship
, Gautham Menon
, unwilling to wait, decided to shelve the film and opted to focus on another project, which prompted Venkat Prabhu
, who was keen on making a multi-starrer film featuring top stars, to sign the actor in his next film, after the director saw moderate success with his previous film, Goa
. Prabhu had written three scripts, out of which the actor chose Mankatha, in which he would portray a character "with grey shades". Venkat Prabhu later disclosed that Ajith Kumar was never considered for the role when he wrote the first draft of the script but that he kept his "usual gang of boys in mind" while creating the characters. Vaibhav Reddy
suggested that a "big hero" should play the protagonist, with Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi
and Sathyaraj
being considered first for the role. Ajith Kumar had called Prabhu at that time and expressed interest in performing a role similar to The Joker
character played by Heath Ledger
in the 2008 English film The Dark Knight. With the protagonist role in Mankatha incidentally being such a character, Ajith immediately accepted the role, turning the film into a high-profile production. Prabhu further emphasized that the script had been altered due to Ajith's entry and he had incorporated "certain elements" that Ajith's fans would expect in a film.
The film officially commenced on 2 August 2010 with the formal launch and a simple pooja held at the AVM Studios, Chennai, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's 18th anniversary of his entry into the film industry. The film's title, initially being Mangaatha, derived from a popular Indian traditional card game
, underwent a minor change in its spelling, due to numerological
reasons. During the pre-production stage, while Prabhu was still working on the scriptment
, sources claimed the film to be on the lines of Steven Soderbergh
's crime thriller Ocean Eleven
(2001). The story was later reported to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling
during the Indian Premier League
(IPL) cricket
season. In June 2011, reports emerged that the film was a remake
of the 2008 Hindi film
Jannat
that was based on match fixing
. However, Dhayanidhi and Venkat Prabhu quickly denied the news and assured that Mankatha was original. Upon completion of filming, Prabhu named it "his favourite film so far" and "close to my heart".
", with several leading South Indian actors expected to appear in it, which is a rare occurrence and would be the first of its kind in the Tamil film industry. Telugu actor Nagarjuna
was first approached to essay a powerful character as a CBI officer
, being initially confirmed by the director during the launch of the film. He had also conveyed interest in remaking the film into Telugu
and playing Ajith Kumar's role in return, but since he could not adjust his call sheet, he was forced to pull out, with Arjun
replacing him in November 2010. In an interview from August 2010, Venkat Prabhu had affirmed that Mohan Babu
's son, Manoj Manchu
, Ganesh Venkatraman
, Venkat Prabhu's younger brother, Premji Amaren
, who had been part of all his brothers' films, and a newcomer Mahat Raghavendra
, a childhood friend of producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri, were signed to portray Ajith Kumar's sidekick
s in the film. However, Manoj Manchu couldn't accept the offer due to a shoulder injury and was eventually replaced by Vaibhav Reddy
, appearing in the third consecutive Venkat Prabhu film, while in December 2010, sources revealed that another newcomer Ashwin Kakumanu
, who previously was seen in Nadunisi Naaygal
, was roped in for the fourth role, replacing Ganesh Venkatraman. Nandha later stated that he was offered the role as well, but had to reject it since he was busy shooting for Vellore Maavattam
.
Prabhu termed the film as "male-oriented", attaching less importance and significance to the female characters in the film. Early reports suggested that Samantha Ruth Prabhu
, and Anushka Shetty
were initially approached for the lead female roles, while in July 2010, reports surfaced that Neetu Chandra
, and Lakshmi Rai
were supposedly signed for the roles. However, the following month Neetu Chandra opted out of the film, refusing the project due to unavailability of dates. Subsequently Trisha Krishnan
was signed to portray Sanjana, Ajith Kumar's love interest, pairing with him for the third time, with Lakshmi Rai being confirmed later, who was signed on to play an important and "lengthy role". Venkat Prabhu revealed that changes in the script resulted in changes of the female characters' personalities, clarifiying that Trisha was not the replacement for Neetu Chandra and that the characters offered to both were different, while adding that Trisha's role was specifically written for her. Prabhu further stated that Lakshmi Rai was first chosen to play Ashwin's pair, which was dropped when the screenplay was altered, and that she was eventually offered the role of Sona, resolving that Rai was not given a choice to select between the roles of Sanjana and Sona, as the actress had claimed post the film's release. Earlier, reports had claimed that Sri Lankan model and actress Jacqueline Fernandez
was also roped in for a guest role. In November 2010, Sneha was reported to be added to the cast to be paired opposite Arjun, however the role was later finalized with Andrea Jeremiah
portraying that character, who had declined the role first, but accepted later after being paid 20 lakhs as remuneration for shooting six days. She was also expected to perform a song for the soundtrack album.
Other additions to the cast in the following months included Subbu Panchu, who rose to fame with his appearance in Boss Engira Bhaskaran
and would essay a police officer
character, Jayaprakash
, enacting also a character with negative shades as the father of Trisha's character, and Anjali
, playing Vaibhav's pair. Sources claimed that Venkat Prabhu himself would also enact a pivotal role in the film, while reports suggesting that Vijay would appear in a cameo role were dismissed by the producer, who clarified that Vijay Vasanth
would appear in a pivotal role. Concerning the film crew, Venkat Prabhu renewed his previous associations with his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja
, for the background score and soundtrack of Mankatha, Sakthi Saravanan
, who would handle the cinematography, and Praveen K. L.
, who along with N. B. Srikanth
, would take care of the editing. Vasuki Bhaskar
and Kalyan remained the costume designer
and the main choreographer, respectively, with Shoby joining the latter for a couple of songs, while Selva was assigned as the stunt coordinator
.
, Chennai
in a simple manner, following which the film's shooting commenced with the principal photography
. The first schedule of filming was supposed to begin by early September, but due to pre-production works and since the principal cast was not decided yet, the shooting got delayed further, finally commencing on 25 October in Chennai
. Several days earlier, a test shoot was conducted with Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra and Vaibhav Reddy taking part in it. Following shoots, involving Ajith Kumar, Trisha and Premji, along the Rajiv Gandhi Salai
(OMR), and at Ajith's home, a duet song, picturized on Ajith Kumar and Trisha, featuring CGI
special effects, was filmed in early November, in a Chennai studio nearby the East Coast Road
. From 10 November onwards, the "introduction" song was shot for five days in Bangkok
, Thailand
, with Ajith Kumar, Lakshmi Rai
and some foreigners participating.
The film's second schedule was planned to begin on 6 December 2010 in a studio in Chennai
, which was slightly delayed due to heavy rain, and started couple of days later. This led to speculation that the film had been shelved
due to financial constraints, which was quickly denied by Venkat Prabhu. During the schedule, all important stunt sequences were canned at Binny Mills in Perambur
, while simultaneously a grand set, resembling the Dharavi
slum in Mumbai
was erected in a Chennai studio. Ajith Kumar also performed one of the action choreographies with the use of a body mounted camera, weighing around 30 kg. In late December, the third song, a "high-spirited peppy number", was shot for five days, with Shobi choreographing the steps. An item number
, titled "Machi, Open The Bottle", it featured actresses Debi Dutta
and Kainaat Arora dancing to the song along with Ajith Kumar and the rest of the gang. The schedule was wrapped up by early February, with which approximately fifty per cent of the film was reportedly completed.
The remaining part of the film was supposedly to be shot during the third and last schedule to be held in Mumbai
, which was to start in late February. However, sourced clarified that the subsequent schedule, too, would be held in Chennai only, with filming being carried on at the Padmanabha Theatre in North Chennai. In late March, the crew eventually moved to Mumbai, where the filming was held for nearly two weeks, mostly at the Dharavi
slum. The climax
portion was planned to be filmed at Madurai
, which was considered as "apt" for the "action-oriented" sequence, but was eventually filmed in Chennai as well, while the remaining scenes were to be canned in Hyderabad. During the first week of June, Ajith had reportedly completed his portion, with his last day shoot being held in Hyderabad, while sources confirmed that filming was still being carried on later that month in Hyderabad. Shooting was further extended, with the crew leaving for Bangkok
again in late June for a ten-day schedule to shoot the pending scenes, including a lengthy fight sequence and a song, involving Premji and Lakshmi Rai. Despite earlier announcement that Ajith had finished his portions, a "special scene" featuring Ajith in a different look was filmed on one day during the first week of July. By June 10, 2011, the crew returned to Chennai and announced the completion of the entire filming.
Mankathas post-production
works commenced by mid-June 2011, and were carried on for over one month. Earlier, an animation
sequence lasting about 4 minutes was being created by specialized technicians, while CGI
special effects were included in a song and action scenes, which was cited as the reason for the delay. By early August, all actors but Ajith Kumar had finished dubbing
for their characters, including Trisha who on Venkat Prabhu insistence spoke dubbing for herself in the film, which became only the third film to feature her original voice. Rekhs, who had previously subtitled films including Enthiran and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, subtitled Mankatha during the first week of August, while Yuvan Shankar Raja worked on the re-recording, being assisted by Premji.
, a short teaser trailer
was shot on the day of the launch itself, since it coincided with Aadi Perukku and was considered an auspicious day. The teaser was screened during the intermission
of Naan Mahaan Alla, another Cloud Nine Movies
distribution that released on 20 August 2010. During Diwali
2010, the first official posters of Mankatha were published in newspapers. A teaser featuring the song "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
" was released on Ajith Kumar's birthday, on May 1, 2011 on YouTube
, after plans of releasing the film or the soundtrack on that day had failed. As the teaser garnered high response, the song was released as a single track
on 20 May 2011, creating positive media response.
, becoming his fourth collaboration with Venkat Prabhu and Ajith Kumar as well. The soundtrack, consists of eight tracks, including one Theme music
track and one club mix
, with lyrics penned by Vaali
, and Gangai Amaran
and renowned poet Subramanya Bharathi's grandson, Niranjan Bharathi. As earlier done in Saroja and Goa
, a promotional track too was planned, which however did not materialize in last minute. Prior to the official soundtrack launch, a single track
, "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
", was released in mid-May 2011. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music who had reportedly offered 1 crore. The soundtrack album, following several postponements, was released on August 10, 2011 at Radio Mirchi
's Chennai station, while two days later the team arranged a press meet, showcasing two songs and the trailer of the film. The album was reported to have achieved record breaking sales. The songs received mixed response, with its placement in the film being criticizied, while the film's score was widely appreciated.
, with sources claiming that the film did not find any buyers in Tamil Nadu
, since it was produced by the grandson of DMK
president M. Karunanidhi
. Cloud Nine Movies began negotiations with other production houses to sell the domestical theatrical rights, however talks with UTV Motion Pictures
and Gemini Film Circuit
resulted in failure. On August 22, 2011, Gnanavelraja confirmed that his production house Studio Green
, had purchased the Indian domestic theatrical and the television rights of the film at an undisclosed record amount.
However in a turn of events, Studio Green cancelled the deal the very next day due to "various reasons" which Gnanavel Raja did not want to elaborate, in spite of posters in newspapers featuring Studio Green's logo. Times of India reported that Azhagiri bought back the rights, since Gnanavel Raja had planned to sell the satellite rights to Jaya TV
, a channel run by the opposition party
, AIADMK
. On August 24, Azhagiri announced that Kalanidhi Maran
's Sun Pictures
had bought the theatrical and satellite rights of the film and would distribute it along with Cloud Nine Movies. Udhayanidhi Stalin
was said to have negotiated the deal and united the production houses to release the film jointly. Mankatha thus became the first Ajith Kumar film under Sun Pictures' banner as well as their first release after the assembly election. Actress Raadhika Sarathkumar
's Radaan Mediaworks distributed the film to Tamil Nadu theatres.
Dhayanidhi Azhagiri announced that the film would be a worldwide release with subtitles
in English, simultaneously opening across Singapore
, Malaysia, Sri Lanka
, United Kingdom
, the United States
, Australia
, Canada
and many other parts of Middle East
and Europe
. Noted Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh acquired the film's dubbing rights by late August 2011 and released a dubbed Telugu version titled Gambler on September 9, 2011 across 225 screens, enabling the biggest opening for a dubbed version of a Tamil film. The film became scheduled for a release on September 1, 2011 in order to cash in on the Vinayaka Chaturthi-Ramadan
weekend, before Ayngaran International
eventually finalized August 31, 2011 as the release date in overseas theatres few days later. In the United States, the film was released at 34 theatres.
The film was given a U/A (Parental guide) certificate by the Indian censor board
on August 23, 2011, and passed without any cuts
, while few words were bleeped. One week later, the British Board of Film Classification
issued a 15 certificate
with an advice that it "contains strong threat and violence".
' of a 'Villain
'". Access Kollywood gave it 4 out 5 stars,stating "You get to see a totally new Ajith; he is absolutely magnificent, no need to say more". Tamilstar gave it 4 of 5 while stating "Worth waiting, worth spending and worth watching!" Behindwoods gave it 3 out of 5, while citing: "Ajith's 'Golden' gamble with Venkat that has paid off. The Hindu
critic Malathi Rangarajan called it a "gutsy" and "engaging game of cat and mouse that springs several surprises", adding that Venkat Prabhu had "laid out a filling spread this time". Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle rated it 3 out of 5 as well, claiming that Ajith "sparkles in his 50th film". Rediffs reviewer Pavithra Srinivasan gave the film 2.5 out of 5 and noted that the film worked "only because of Ajith", praising his performance, writing that he had "carried practically the whole film on his capable shoulders". Sify
s critic highlighted that Ajith "steals the thunder and plays the emotionless bad man, to perfection", further adding that he looked "smashing and his scorching screen presence is unmatchable", while the reviewer criticized the script as being "dull". Supergoodfilms gave 3.5 out of 5 and stated "Its Ajith all the way. He is simply amazing in the role of a dreaded baddie. With his usual looks sans makeup, he hogs all limelight" Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com rated Mankatha 2/5 stating that "Mankatha doesn't stand on independent merit. It rests on the fanboy's identity crisis."
on August 31. It was said to have collected 25.2 crores from 370 screens during the opening five-day weekend, and around 30 crores in its first week. The film marked the high opening day and opening weekend gross in 2011 and became the best opening in Ajith Kumar's career, while also garnering the second-highest opening gross of all time for a Tamil film after Enthiran (2010). In Chennai
city alone, the film earned 2.72 crores in the first weekend from 19 screens. The multiplexes gave it the maximum number of shows including morning shows in all screens. At the Mayajaal multiplex, Mankatha was screened in all 14 screens on the first day, resulting in 70 shows, all being sold out, while Sathyam Cinemas reported a net of 33,72,000 from two screens for the five-day weekend. In Kerala
, the film was released in the original language in Thiruvananthapuram
and Palakkad
districts on August 31 while a dubbed version released all over the state on September 9, opening at first rank, outclassing other Malayalam releases. In Andhra Pradesh
, too, the film became declared an economical success, opening better than original Telugu ventures, while emerging successful at the Bengaluru box office as well.
The film opened at second rank in Malaysia, grossing $803,666 in its first weekend,with a per screen average of $19,602(Highest per screen average) claiming the second-highest opening weekend for a Tamil film. After 4 weeks, the film has collected 6 crores in Malaysia alone. In the United Kingdom
, the film grossed $179,054 from 16 screens, opening at 16th rank, gaining the third-highest per-screen-average-rate ($11,191). Overall the film had collected $1,104,911 in Malaysia in 6 weeks, and $268,533 in UK at the end of the third week. The film is reported to have netted 80 crores in 30 days making it the fastest film to reach the mark after Enthiran.
confirmed the possibility of a sequel, provided that Ajith Kumar
accepted. Sources also reported that Prabhu planned to use the initial script that he had penned before Ajith Kumar became part of the film.
Venkat Prabhu
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren , better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry...
. It features Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
in the lead role, starring in his 50th film, along with an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
including Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
, Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
, Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy is an Indian film actor and model. Son of noted Telugu film director A. Kodandarami Reddy, he made his feature film debut with the 2007 Telugu film Godava under his father's direction...
, Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
, Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
, Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren is a Tamil playback singer, film composer, songwriter and actor. Son of veteran film composer and singer Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in the Venkat Prabhu films Chennai 28, Saroja and Goa...
and Anjali
Anjali (actress)
Anjali is an Indian film actress and model, who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Following a stint in modelling, she was cast in starring roles in two low-profile Telugu productions, before gaining attention with her critically acclaimed performance as Anandhi in Kattradhu Thamizh , for which...
. It was produced by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies is a Tamil film production and distribution company, based in Chennai. It is owned by Dayanidhi Azhagiri and Vivek Rathinavel and was founded in 2008.-History:...
while Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
composed the musical score and soundtrack
Mankatha (soundtrack)
Mankatha is the soundtrack album, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, to the 2011 action thriller film Mankatha, directed by Venkat Prabhu that stars Ajith Kumar in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and...
, with Sakthi Saravanan
Sakthi Saravanan
Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for his work in Venkat Prabhu directorials. He has done many Hit movies and became a Popular director like Chennai 600028,Saroja, Siva Manasula Sakthi, and Boss Engira Bhaskaran...
working as the cinematographer and the duo Praveen K. L.
Praveen K. L.
Praveen K. L. is an Indian film editor, working primarily in the Tamil film industry. After working under Balu Mahendra for his television series, Kadhai Neram, he shifted to feature films and has mostly worked together with N. B. Srikanth on several successful Tamil films, most notably for Venkat...
and N. B. Srikanth
N. B. Srikanth
N. B. Srikanth is an Indian film editor, working primarily in the Tamil film industry. He has mostly worked together with Praveen K. L. on several successful Tamil films, most notably for Venkat Prabhu's directorials...
as editors. The story, set in Mumbai, revolves around a heist of cricket betting money, executed by a gang of four thieves, who are joined by a fifth unknown man, and its aftermaths.
The film was formally launched in August 2010, with its principal photography beginning on October 25, 2010. Filming was held for more than eight months and took place primarily across Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, the Dharavi
Dharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
slum in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Following speculations regarding the film's release, Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures is a film distribution and production studio unit of Chennai, based Sun Network owned by Kalanidhi Maran. Founded in 2008, it started distributing low-budget Tamil-language films, Kadhalil Vizhunthen being the first, and holds the credit of producing India's costliest film Enthiran...
acquired the theatrical rights and distributed the film via Raadhika Sarathkumar
Raadhika Sarathkumar
Radhika Sarathkumar is a Tamil television and film actress, successful entrepreneur and producer. She is the founder of Radaan Mediaworks, which has produced the successful serials Chithi, Annamalai, Selvi, Arasi, and Idi Katha Kadu . She is currently acting in the serial Chellamay for Sun TV...
's Radaan Mediaworks. Mankatha released on August 31, 2011 worldwide to generally positive reviews, while marking the second highest-grossing opening for a Tamil film. The film was also dubbed into Telugu and Malayalam as Gambler and released in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala ten days later.
Plot
Vinayak Mahadevan (Ajith KumarAjith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
), an assistent commissioner of Maharashtra police, gets suspended for having saved a smuggler named Faizal (Aravind Akash
Aravind Akash
Aravind Akash is an Indian actor who has acted in TV shows as well as Tamil and Malayalam films.-Career:...
) from encounter killing and helped him escape. He starts leading life in his own way. Meanwhile, a police officer commits suicide because of the leakage of his IPL gambling plans who is revealed to be Kamal Ekambaram (Subbu Panchu). A tough cop Prithvi (Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
) takes charge to end betting scandal in IPL cricket in Mumbai. It is then revealed to Prithvi that Kamal faked his death
Faked death
A faked death occurs when an individual leaves evidence to suggest that he or she is dead in order to mislead others. This may be done for a variety of reasons, such as to fraudulently collect insurance money or avoid capture by law enforcement for some other crime.People who fake their own deaths...
to catch the culprits in a secret mission and returns under the name Praveen Kumar. Arumuga Chettiar (Jayaprakash
Jayaprakash
Jayaprakash is an Indian film actor and producer. He ventured into film business in the early 2000s as a producer, making several films under his banner GJ Cinema and later turned actor, with Cheran's 2007 film, Mayakannadi...
), an influential local illegal business dealer and the head of Faisal, owns "Golden Theatres" in Mumbai, which has been converted into a gambling den and forms the front for all his illegal businesses. Vinayak is introduced to Arumuga Chettiyar through his girl friend Sanjana (Trisha
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
). Sanjana is in love with Vinayak, but Vinyak just pretends to love her. Arumuga Chettiyar uses his links with dons in Mumbai and tries to route through his old theater, a cash of over 500 crores (USD$110 million) to be used in betting.
Sumanth (Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy is an Indian film actor and model. Son of noted Telugu film director A. Kodandarami Reddy, he made his feature film debut with the 2007 Telugu film Godava under his father's direction...
), a goon working for Arumuga Chettiyar, hatches a conspiracy to rob the money in the company of his friends – Ganesh (Ashwin Kakumanu
Ashwin Kakumanu
Ashwin Kakumanu is an Indian film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:Ashwin initially unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The director Gautham Menon was close to giving him the role. However, the producers...
), a local Sub-Inspector, Mahat (Mahat Raghavendra
Mahat Raghavendra
Mahat Raghavendra is an Tamil film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:...
), who owns a bar in Mumbai and Mahat's friend Prem (Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren is a Tamil playback singer, film composer, songwriter and actor. Son of veteran film composer and singer Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in the Venkat Prabhu films Chennai 28, Saroja and Goa...
), an IIT graduate. Vinayak befriends the boys at Sumanth's marriage with Suchithra (Anjali
Anjali (actress)
Anjali is an Indian film actress and model, who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Following a stint in modelling, she was cast in starring roles in two low-profile Telugu productions, before gaining attention with her critically acclaimed performance as Anandhi in Kattradhu Thamizh , for which...
). One late evening, Vinayak meets Prem, who becomes inebriated by him and reveals their heist plan. Vinayak starts spying on them and confronts them on the day of the planned heist, stepping in. Vinayak, however, has other plans. He wants to kill his four accomplices and take the entire amount. He promises to help them and divide it between them. After looting the money they leave the money in an old cafe. Both Arumuga Chettiar and the police search for them. Sumanth is caught by Faizal, but is saved by Ganesh and Vinayak. Sanjana engulfs in grief when she comes to know about Vinayak's true intentions. Meanwhile, Mahat and Prem escape with the cash and are accompanied by Sona (Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
). Vinayak, Sumanth and Ganesh get to know about this. Sumanth, however, turns approver
Turn state's evidence
To turn state's evidence is when an accused or convicted criminal testifies as a witness for the state against his associates or accomplices. Turning state's evidence is occasionally a result of a change of heart or feelings of guilt, but more often is done in response to a generous offer from the...
, since his wife Suchithra has been kidnapped by Arumuga Chettiyar, but is killed when Prithvi's wife Sabitha Prithviraj (Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
) is kidnapped and threatened by Vinayak.
Sequence of events lead to the murder of the gang one by one—Mahat gets killed by Sona who betrays him, Prem is killed by Prithvi who suspects him of the robbery, and Sona gets killed by Vinayak—with Ganesh and Vinayak remaining alive. A final fight ensues between Vinayak and Prithvi. The two actually prove to be equal. At the final moment of the fight, Kamal throws a gun to Prithvi who shoots Vinayak, thus killing him. After several days, the police gets information about Ganesh to be living in Thailand. Kamal (under the name of Praveen Kumar) arrives there, but instead comes across Vinayak. Praveen confronts him and calls up Prithvi to inform him of Vinayak's presence, but then it is then revealed that Prithviraj and Vinayak are actually best friends since their college days and took trainings together. They had come to know about that betting money and operated the plan together (including Vinayak's fake death). Ganesh had also been killed by Vinayak as a part of the plan. It is implied that Praveen will also be killed by Vinayak.
Cast
- Ajith KumarAjith KumarAjith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
as Vinayak Mahadevan - ArjunArjun SarjaArjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
as Prithviraj - Trisha KrishnanTrisha KrishnanTrisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
as Sanjana Arumugam - VaibhavVaibhav ReddyVaibhav Reddy is an Indian film actor and model. Son of noted Telugu film director A. Kodandarami Reddy, he made his feature film debut with the 2007 Telugu film Godava under his father's direction...
as Sumanth - Mahat RaghavendraMahat RaghavendraMahat Raghavendra is an Tamil film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:...
as Mahat - Premji AmarenPremji AmarenPremji Amaren is a Tamil playback singer, film composer, songwriter and actor. Son of veteran film composer and singer Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in the Venkat Prabhu films Chennai 28, Saroja and Goa...
as Prem - Ashwin KakumanuAshwin KakumanuAshwin Kakumanu is an Indian film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:Ashwin initially unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The director Gautham Menon was close to giving him the role. However, the producers...
as Ganesh - JayaprakashJayaprakashJayaprakash is an Indian film actor and producer. He ventured into film business in the early 2000s as a producer, making several films under his banner GJ Cinema and later turned actor, with Cheran's 2007 film, Mayakannadi...
as Arumuga Chettiyar - Lakshmi RaiLakshmi RaiLakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
as Sona - Aravind AkashAravind AkashAravind Akash is an Indian actor who has acted in TV shows as well as Tamil and Malayalam films.-Career:...
as Faizal - Subbu Panchu as Kamal Ekambaram/Praveen Kumar
- AnjaliAnjali (actress)Anjali is an Indian film actress and model, who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Following a stint in modelling, she was cast in starring roles in two low-profile Telugu productions, before gaining attention with her critically acclaimed performance as Anandhi in Kattradhu Thamizh , for which...
as Suchitra Sumanth - Andrea JeremiahAndrea JeremiahAndrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
as Sabitha Prithviraj - Vijay VasanthVijay VasanthVijay Vasanth is an Tamil film actor and model. He is the son of entrepreneur H. Vasanthakumar.-Filmography:-External links:...
in a cameo appearance - Kainaat Arora in a special appearance
- Debi DuttaDebi DuttaDebi Dutta is a model and actress. She has appeared in commercials of Pepsi, Nokia, HCL Laptops, Close Up. She entered into movies by playing character of Aparna, a childhood friend of Ranbir Kapoor in the movie Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year ....
in a special appearance
Development
Following the release of his film Aasal in February 2010, Ajith KumarAjith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
was signed by Dhayanidhi Alagiri's Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies is a Tamil film production and distribution company, based in Chennai. It is owned by Dayanidhi Azhagiri and Vivek Rathinavel and was founded in 2008.-History:...
for a project touted to be directed by Gautham Menon
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
. However, as Ajith Kumar participated in the 2010 season
2010 FIA Formula Two Championship season
The 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the second year of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on April 18 at Silverstone and concluded on September 19 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, after nine double-header rounds....
of the FIA Formula Two Championship
FIA Formula Two Championship
-Chassis:Named after both Jonathan Palmer and Patrick Head, the Williams JPH1 chassis and survival cell is of carbon fibre composite monocoque construction. The car was designed to comply with 2005 FIA F1 Safety Regulations. Head protection conforms to the latest 2009 F1 standards...
, Gautham Menon
Gautham Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director and producer. Mainly working in Tamil cinema, he has also directed Hindi and Telugu films which are remakes of his Tamil films...
, unwilling to wait, decided to shelve the film and opted to focus on another project, which prompted Venkat Prabhu
Venkat Prabhu
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren , better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry...
, who was keen on making a multi-starrer film featuring top stars, to sign the actor in his next film, after the director saw moderate success with his previous film, Goa
Goa (film)
Goa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, who with the project, directed his third film following two previous successes...
. Prabhu had written three scripts, out of which the actor chose Mankatha, in which he would portray a character "with grey shades". Venkat Prabhu later disclosed that Ajith Kumar was never considered for the role when he wrote the first draft of the script but that he kept his "usual gang of boys in mind" while creating the characters. Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy is an Indian film actor and model. Son of noted Telugu film director A. Kodandarami Reddy, he made his feature film debut with the 2007 Telugu film Godava under his father's direction...
suggested that a "big hero" should play the protagonist, with Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi is an Indian actor. He is the son of Bollywood actor Suresh Oberoi and Yashodhara Oberoi.- Early life :Vivek attended Mayo college in Ajmer. At an actors' workshop in London he was spotted by the director of New York University who took Vivek off to New York, where he completed his...
and Sathyaraj
Sathyaraj
Sathyaraj is a Tamil film actor and media personality in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. A Tamil activist and a political influence, he has acted in over 150 films, ranging from action and drama to comedy. In 2007, he played the role of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy in the Tamil Nadu government-sponsored...
being considered first for the role. Ajith Kumar had called Prabhu at that time and expressed interest in performing a role similar to The Joker
Joker (comics)
The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
character played by Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
in the 2008 English film The Dark Knight. With the protagonist role in Mankatha incidentally being such a character, Ajith immediately accepted the role, turning the film into a high-profile production. Prabhu further emphasized that the script had been altered due to Ajith's entry and he had incorporated "certain elements" that Ajith's fans would expect in a film.
The film officially commenced on 2 August 2010 with the formal launch and a simple pooja held at the AVM Studios, Chennai, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's 18th anniversary of his entry into the film industry. The film's title, initially being Mangaatha, derived from a popular Indian traditional card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
, underwent a minor change in its spelling, due to numerological
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
reasons. During the pre-production stage, while Prabhu was still working on the scriptment
Scriptment
A scriptment is a written work by a movie or television screenwriter that combines elements of a script and treatment, especially the dialogue elements, which are formatted the same as in a screenplay. It is a more elaborate document than a standard draft treatment...
, sources claimed the film to be on the lines of Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Andrew Soderbergh is an American film producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, and an Academy Award-winning film director. He is best known for directing commercial Hollywood films like Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and the remake of Ocean's Eleven, but he has also directed smaller less...
's crime thriller Ocean Eleven
Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...
(2001). The story was later reported to revolve around a Mafia gang gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
during the Indian Premier League
Indian Premier League
The Indian Premier League is a professional league for Twenty20 cricket competition in India. It was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , headquartered in Mumbai, and is supervised by BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla, who serves as the league's Chairman and Commissioner...
(IPL) cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
season. In June 2011, reports emerged that the film was a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 2008 Hindi film
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
Jannat
Jannat (film)
Jannat is a 2008 Bollywood film directed by Kunal Deshmukh and starring Emraan Hashmi, Sonal Chauhan, Sameer Kochhar and Javed Shaikh...
that was based on match fixing
Match fixing
In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...
. However, Dhayanidhi and Venkat Prabhu quickly denied the news and assured that Mankatha was original. Upon completion of filming, Prabhu named it "his favourite film so far" and "close to my heart".
Casting
The film was supposed to be a "multi-starrerAll-star
All-star is a term designating an individual as having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry...
", with several leading South Indian actors expected to appear in it, which is a rare occurrence and would be the first of its kind in the Tamil film industry. Telugu actor Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna
Akkineni Nagarjuna is an Indian film actor in Tollywood and Bollywood. He is a producer and one of the lead actors in Telugu cinema.- Early life :...
was first approached to essay a powerful character as a CBI officer
Central Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
, being initially confirmed by the director during the launch of the film. He had also conveyed interest in remaking the film into Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
and playing Ajith Kumar's role in return, but since he could not adjust his call sheet, he was forced to pull out, with Arjun
Arjun Sarja
Arjun Sarja is an Indian film actor and director. Son of Kannada film star Shakti Prasad, he has primarily acted in Tamil films, and also appeared in Kannada and Telugu films. The title "Action King" has been given to Arjun by fans, for the numerous roles he has portrayed in action films. He is...
replacing him in November 2010. In an interview from August 2010, Venkat Prabhu had affirmed that Mohan Babu
Mohan babu
Mohan Babu is an actor & producer in Telugu Cinema. He is a former Member of Parliament - Rajya Sabha and Educationist from Andhra Pradesh...
's son, Manoj Manchu
Manoj Manchu
Manoj is an Indian actor. He is the younger son of Mohan Babu. He did his bachelors degree from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.Manoj is familiar to Telugu audience right from his childhood. He played many roles as a child artist in his own banner movies when his father Mohan Babu is shown...
, Ganesh Venkatraman
Ganesh Venkatraman
Ganesh Venkatraman is an Indian film actor and model. He rose to fame following his performances in films such as The Angrez, Abhiyum Naanum and Unnaipol Oruvan.-Early life:Ganesh was born and raised in Mumbai. His roots are in Tamil Nadu...
, Venkat Prabhu's younger brother, Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren
Premji Amaren is a Tamil playback singer, film composer, songwriter and actor. Son of veteran film composer and singer Gangai Amaran, he often composes rap songs in Tamil cinema and is known for his comical performances in the Venkat Prabhu films Chennai 28, Saroja and Goa...
, who had been part of all his brothers' films, and a newcomer Mahat Raghavendra
Mahat Raghavendra
Mahat Raghavendra is an Tamil film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:...
, a childhood friend of producer Dhayanidhi Alagiri, were signed to portray Ajith Kumar's sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
s in the film. However, Manoj Manchu couldn't accept the offer due to a shoulder injury and was eventually replaced by Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy
Vaibhav Reddy is an Indian film actor and model. Son of noted Telugu film director A. Kodandarami Reddy, he made his feature film debut with the 2007 Telugu film Godava under his father's direction...
, appearing in the third consecutive Venkat Prabhu film, while in December 2010, sources revealed that another newcomer Ashwin Kakumanu
Ashwin Kakumanu
Ashwin Kakumanu is an Indian film actor, who is best known for his role in Venkat Prabhu's action thriller, Mankatha.-Career:Ashwin initially unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The director Gautham Menon was close to giving him the role. However, the producers...
, who previously was seen in Nadunisi Naaygal
Nadunisi Naaygal
Nadunisi Naaygal is a 2011 Tamil psychological thriller film written and directed by Gautham Menon that stars Sameera Reddy, Veera Bahu and Deva in lead roles, with Swapna Abraham, Ashwin Kakumanu and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in other pivotal roles. The film notably does not feature any kind of film...
, was roped in for the fourth role, replacing Ganesh Venkatraman. Nandha later stated that he was offered the role as well, but had to reject it since he was busy shooting for Vellore Maavattam
Vellore Maavattam
Vellore Maavattam is a 2011 Tamil action film written and directed by R. N. R. Manohar, starring Nandha and Poorna. Produced by AGS Entertainment, the film released on 5 October 2011 on the occasion of the festival of Ayudha Pooja.-Cast:...
.
Prabhu termed the film as "male-oriented", attaching less importance and significance to the female characters in the film. Early reports suggested that Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. Born to Malayali and Telugu parents, Samantha was brought up in Chennai and pursued a career in modeling during her late teens...
, and Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty
Anushka Shetty is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu...
were initially approached for the lead female roles, while in July 2010, reports surfaced that Neetu Chandra
Neetu Chandra
Neetu Chandra is an Indian theatre and film actress and model.-Early life and education:Neetu Chandra was born in Patna, Bihar, India. A resident of Patliputra Colony, she did her schooling from the Notre Dame Academy, Patna, and dreamt of entering the modelling world...
, and Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
were supposedly signed for the roles. However, the following month Neetu Chandra opted out of the film, refusing the project due to unavailability of dates. Subsequently Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan
Trisha Krishnan is an Indian film actress and model, who primarily appears in Tamil and Telugu language films, but has also appeared in Hindi language films. She was noticed after winning several beauty pageants like the Miss Madras contest , which marked her entry into filmdom...
was signed to portray Sanjana, Ajith Kumar's love interest, pairing with him for the third time, with Lakshmi Rai being confirmed later, who was signed on to play an important and "lengthy role". Venkat Prabhu revealed that changes in the script resulted in changes of the female characters' personalities, clarifiying that Trisha was not the replacement for Neetu Chandra and that the characters offered to both were different, while adding that Trisha's role was specifically written for her. Prabhu further stated that Lakshmi Rai was first chosen to play Ashwin's pair, which was dropped when the screenplay was altered, and that she was eventually offered the role of Sona, resolving that Rai was not given a choice to select between the roles of Sanjana and Sona, as the actress had claimed post the film's release. Earlier, reports had claimed that Sri Lankan model and actress Jacqueline Fernandez
Jacqueline Fernandez
Jacqueline Fernandez is a Sri Lankan actress and model who works in Bollywood films. She is a former beauty queen who won the Miss Sri Lanka Universe in 2006...
was also roped in for a guest role. In November 2010, Sneha was reported to be added to the cast to be paired opposite Arjun, however the role was later finalized with Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah
Andrea Jeremiah is an Tamil playback singer, voice actor and a film and theatre actress. Beginning her career singing playback, Andrea has gone on to appear in critically acclaimed films such as Pachaikili Muthucharam and Aayirathil Oruvan, winning praise for her portrayals.-Career:Andrea was born...
portraying that character, who had declined the role first, but accepted later after being paid 20 lakhs as remuneration for shooting six days. She was also expected to perform a song for the soundtrack album.
Other additions to the cast in the following months included Subbu Panchu, who rose to fame with his appearance in Boss Engira Bhaskaran
Boss Engira Bhaskaran
Following the success of Siva Manasula Sakthi, Yuvan Shankar Raja composed the musical score and soundtrack of Boss Engira Bhaskaran, too. The soundtrack album, which was released on 27 August 2010 at Sathyam Cinemas, contains 5 tracks, featuring lyrics penned by Na...
and would essay a police officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
character, Jayaprakash
Jayaprakash
Jayaprakash is an Indian film actor and producer. He ventured into film business in the early 2000s as a producer, making several films under his banner GJ Cinema and later turned actor, with Cheran's 2007 film, Mayakannadi...
, enacting also a character with negative shades as the father of Trisha's character, and Anjali
Anjali (actress)
Anjali is an Indian film actress and model, who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Following a stint in modelling, she was cast in starring roles in two low-profile Telugu productions, before gaining attention with her critically acclaimed performance as Anandhi in Kattradhu Thamizh , for which...
, playing Vaibhav's pair. Sources claimed that Venkat Prabhu himself would also enact a pivotal role in the film, while reports suggesting that Vijay would appear in a cameo role were dismissed by the producer, who clarified that Vijay Vasanth
Vijay Vasanth
Vijay Vasanth is an Tamil film actor and model. He is the son of entrepreneur H. Vasanthakumar.-Filmography:-External links:...
would appear in a pivotal role. Concerning the film crew, Venkat Prabhu renewed his previous associations with his cousin Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
, for the background score and soundtrack of Mankatha, Sakthi Saravanan
Sakthi Saravanan
Sakthi Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer, who works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for his work in Venkat Prabhu directorials. He has done many Hit movies and became a Popular director like Chennai 600028,Saroja, Siva Manasula Sakthi, and Boss Engira Bhaskaran...
, who would handle the cinematography, and Praveen K. L.
Praveen K. L.
Praveen K. L. is an Indian film editor, working primarily in the Tamil film industry. After working under Balu Mahendra for his television series, Kadhai Neram, he shifted to feature films and has mostly worked together with N. B. Srikanth on several successful Tamil films, most notably for Venkat...
, who along with N. B. Srikanth
N. B. Srikanth
N. B. Srikanth is an Indian film editor, working primarily in the Tamil film industry. He has mostly worked together with Praveen K. L. on several successful Tamil films, most notably for Venkat Prabhu's directorials...
, would take care of the editing. Vasuki Bhaskar
Vasuki Bhaskar
Vasuki Bhaskar is an Indian fashion and costume designer, working in the Tamil film industry. She is the daughter of film producer R.D. Bhaskar and has worked in his cousin Venkat Prabhu's films.-career:...
and Kalyan remained the costume designer
Costume Designer
A costume designer or costume mistress/master is a person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film or stage production. He or she is considered an important part of the "production team", working alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers as well as the sound designer. The...
and the main choreographer, respectively, with Shoby joining the latter for a couple of songs, while Selva was assigned as the stunt coordinator
Stunt coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company to arrange the casting and performance of stunts for a film, television programme or a live audience...
.
Filming
The film was launched on 2 August 2010 at AVM Studios in VadapalaniVadapalani
-Murugan Koyil:Built about 125 years back, this much-hallowed and regularly frequented Lord Muruga sannidhi has emerged from a thatched shed, an unostentatious one enshrining a Murugan picture only, and established for itself a name on par with ancient places of worship...
, Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
in a simple manner, following which the film's shooting commenced with the principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
. The first schedule of filming was supposed to begin by early September, but due to pre-production works and since the principal cast was not decided yet, the shooting got delayed further, finally commencing on 25 October in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
. Several days earlier, a test shoot was conducted with Premji Amaren, Mahat Raghavendra and Vaibhav Reddy taking part in it. Following shoots, involving Ajith Kumar, Trisha and Premji, along the Rajiv Gandhi Salai
Rajiv Gandhi Salai
Rajiv Gandhi Salai , previously known as Old Mahabalipuram Road or IT Corridor is a major road in suburban Chennai, India, beginning at the Madhya Kailash temple in Adyar and continuing south till Mahabalipuram, ultimately merging with the East Coast Road...
(OMR), and at Ajith's home, a duet song, picturized on Ajith Kumar and Trisha, featuring CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects, was filmed in early November, in a Chennai studio nearby the East Coast Road
East Coast Road
East Coast Road is a two lane highway in Tamil Nadu, India, built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Chennai to Cuddalore via Pondicherry. Presently, the East Coast Road has been extended up to Thoothukudi via Chidambaram, Karaikal, Nagore, Nagapattinam, Thiruthuraipoondi, Muthupet,...
. From 10 November onwards, the "introduction" song was shot for five days in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, with Ajith Kumar, Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai
Lakshmi Rai is an Indian film actress and model from Belgaum, Karnataka, predominantly appearing in Malayalam and Tamil films. While most of her Tamil releases performed poorly at the box office, she rose to fame with the popular Malayalam-language films Annan Thambi , 2 Harihar Nagar ,...
and some foreigners participating.
The film's second schedule was planned to begin on 6 December 2010 in a studio in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, which was slightly delayed due to heavy rain, and started couple of days later. This led to speculation that the film had been shelved
Shelved
In politics, the term can be used for policy drafts, that have never been officially brought into legislation.In the film industry, a film is considered shelved if it is not released for public viewing after filming has started, or even completed....
due to financial constraints, which was quickly denied by Venkat Prabhu. During the schedule, all important stunt sequences were canned at Binny Mills in Perambur
Perambur
Perambur , is a locality in Northern part of the metropolitan city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India.It is one of expensive area in chennai with all facilities of needs....
, while simultaneously a grand set, resembling the Dharavi
Dharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
slum in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
was erected in a Chennai studio. Ajith Kumar also performed one of the action choreographies with the use of a body mounted camera, weighing around 30 kg. In late December, the third song, a "high-spirited peppy number", was shot for five days, with Shobi choreographing the steps. An item number
Item number
An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...
, titled "Machi, Open The Bottle", it featured actresses Debi Dutta
Debi Dutta
Debi Dutta is a model and actress. She has appeared in commercials of Pepsi, Nokia, HCL Laptops, Close Up. She entered into movies by playing character of Aparna, a childhood friend of Ranbir Kapoor in the movie Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year ....
and Kainaat Arora dancing to the song along with Ajith Kumar and the rest of the gang. The schedule was wrapped up by early February, with which approximately fifty per cent of the film was reportedly completed.
The remaining part of the film was supposedly to be shot during the third and last schedule to be held in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, which was to start in late February. However, sourced clarified that the subsequent schedule, too, would be held in Chennai only, with filming being carried on at the Padmanabha Theatre in North Chennai. In late March, the crew eventually moved to Mumbai, where the filming was held for nearly two weeks, mostly at the Dharavi
Dharavi
Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares, or...
slum. The climax
Climax
- Common general uses :* Climax * Climax * Climax community* Climax vegetation in an ecosystem* Sexual climax, another term for orgasm- Brand names and titles :* The Climax, a 1944 film...
portion was planned to be filmed at Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
, which was considered as "apt" for the "action-oriented" sequence, but was eventually filmed in Chennai as well, while the remaining scenes were to be canned in Hyderabad. During the first week of June, Ajith had reportedly completed his portion, with his last day shoot being held in Hyderabad, while sources confirmed that filming was still being carried on later that month in Hyderabad. Shooting was further extended, with the crew leaving for Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
again in late June for a ten-day schedule to shoot the pending scenes, including a lengthy fight sequence and a song, involving Premji and Lakshmi Rai. Despite earlier announcement that Ajith had finished his portions, a "special scene" featuring Ajith in a different look was filmed on one day during the first week of July. By June 10, 2011, the crew returned to Chennai and announced the completion of the entire filming.
Mankathas post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
works commenced by mid-June 2011, and were carried on for over one month. Earlier, an animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
sequence lasting about 4 minutes was being created by specialized technicians, while CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
special effects were included in a song and action scenes, which was cited as the reason for the delay. By early August, all actors but Ajith Kumar had finished dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
for their characters, including Trisha who on Venkat Prabhu insistence spoke dubbing for herself in the film, which became only the third film to feature her original voice. Rekhs, who had previously subtitled films including Enthiran and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, subtitled Mankatha during the first week of August, while Yuvan Shankar Raja worked on the re-recording, being assisted by Premji.
Marketing
Even before beginning the principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
, a short teaser trailer
Teaser trailer
A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...
was shot on the day of the launch itself, since it coincided with Aadi Perukku and was considered an auspicious day. The teaser was screened during the intermission
Intermission
An intermission or interval is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening....
of Naan Mahaan Alla, another Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies
Cloud Nine Movies is a Tamil film production and distribution company, based in Chennai. It is owned by Dayanidhi Azhagiri and Vivek Rathinavel and was founded in 2008.-History:...
distribution that released on 20 August 2010. During Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
2010, the first official posters of Mankatha were published in newspapers. A teaser featuring the song "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
"Vilaiyaadu Mankatha" is a song by Indian artist and film composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. A part of the soundtrack album to the Tamil film Mankatha, it was released as a single track on 20 May 2011...
" was released on Ajith Kumar's birthday, on May 1, 2011 on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, after plans of releasing the film or the soundtrack on that day had failed. As the teaser garnered high response, the song was released as a single track
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on 20 May 2011, creating positive media response.
Music
The film score and soundtrack of Mankatha were composed by Yuvan Shankar RajaYuvan Shankar Raja
Yuvan Shankar Raja is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer, singer and occasional lyricist. He has predominantly scored music for Tamil as well as several Telugu films. His musical career began in 1996, at age 16, as he composed the film score for Aravindhan...
, becoming his fourth collaboration with Venkat Prabhu and Ajith Kumar as well. The soundtrack, consists of eight tracks, including one Theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
track and one club mix
Electronic dance music
Electronic dance music is electronic music produced primarily for the purposes of use within a nightclub setting, or in an environment that is centered upon dance-based entertainment...
, with lyrics penned by Vaali
Vaali (poet)
Vaali is a Tamil poet and lyricist who writes Tamil poetry and film song lyrics. Most recently he has extended lyrics for a couple of songs in Engeyum Kaadhal for the music of Harris Jayaraj. He has also acted in several films, most notably Hey Ram, Parthale Paravasam and Poi Kaal Kudhirai...
, and Gangai Amaran
Gangai Amaran
Gangai Amaran is a Music director, Lyricist, Script writer, Actor and Film director in Tamil films. He is the younger brother of noted music director Ilayaraaja and father of actors Venkat Prabhu and Premji Amaren.-As script writer:...
and renowned poet Subramanya Bharathi's grandson, Niranjan Bharathi. As earlier done in Saroja and Goa
Goa (soundtrack)
Goa is the soundtrack album by Yuvan Shankar Raja to the 2010 romantic comedy film Goa, directed by Venkat Prabhu that stars Jai, Vaibhav, Premji Amaran, Sneha, Piaa Bajpai and Melanie Marie Jobstreibitzer and is produced by Soundarya Rajinikanth's Ocher Studios...
, a promotional track too was planned, which however did not materialize in last minute. Prior to the official soundtrack launch, a single track
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
Vilaiyaadu Mankatha
"Vilaiyaadu Mankatha" is a song by Indian artist and film composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. A part of the soundtrack album to the Tamil film Mankatha, it was released as a single track on 20 May 2011...
", was released in mid-May 2011. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music who had reportedly offered 1 crore. The soundtrack album, following several postponements, was released on August 10, 2011 at Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the Entertainment Network India Ltd , which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group....
's Chennai station, while two days later the team arranged a press meet, showcasing two songs and the trailer of the film. The album was reported to have achieved record breaking sales. The songs received mixed response, with its placement in the film being criticizied, while the film's score was widely appreciated.
Release
During the late production stage, reports indicated that Mankatha faced "political pressure" following the change in government after the 2011 Tamil Nadu legislative assembly electionTamil Nadu legislative assembly election, 2011
The fourteenth legislative assembly election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members from 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Results were released on 13 May 2011...
, with sources claiming that the film did not find any buyers in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, since it was produced by the grandson of DMK
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
president M. Karunanidhi
M. Karunanidhi
Muthuvel Karunanidhi is an Indian politician and a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. He is the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. He has been the leader of the DMK since the death of its founder, C. N...
. Cloud Nine Movies began negotiations with other production houses to sell the domestical theatrical rights, however talks with UTV Motion Pictures
UTV Motion Pictures
UTV Motion Pictures Plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Software Communications Ltd. , based in London media and entertainment production company...
and Gemini Film Circuit
Gemini Film Circuit
Gemini Film Circuit is a film distribution and production studio unit of Chennai,-Filmography:...
resulted in failure. On August 22, 2011, Gnanavelraja confirmed that his production house Studio Green
Studio Green
Studio Green is a Tamil film production and distribution company, based in Chennai. It was found by K.E Ganavelraja in 2006.-History:The company first produced and distributed the film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal starring Surya ,in 2006, which was a critically acclaimed film...
, had purchased the Indian domestic theatrical and the television rights of the film at an undisclosed record amount.
However in a turn of events, Studio Green cancelled the deal the very next day due to "various reasons" which Gnanavel Raja did not want to elaborate, in spite of posters in newspapers featuring Studio Green's logo. Times of India reported that Azhagiri bought back the rights, since Gnanavel Raja had planned to sell the satellite rights to Jaya TV
Jaya TV
Jaya TV is one of the major Tamil language satellite television channels based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV is one of the early Tamil channels to entertain the Tamil audiences spread across Globe....
, a channel run by the opposition party
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
, AIADMK
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
. On August 24, Azhagiri announced that Kalanidhi Maran
Kalanidhi Maran
Kalanithi Maran is the Chairman and Managing Director of Sun Network, which is the most profitable Television network in Asia.In June 2010, he acquired Spice Jet which was the most profitable airlines in India...
's Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures
Sun Pictures is a film distribution and production studio unit of Chennai, based Sun Network owned by Kalanidhi Maran. Founded in 2008, it started distributing low-budget Tamil-language films, Kadhalil Vizhunthen being the first, and holds the credit of producing India's costliest film Enthiran...
had bought the theatrical and satellite rights of the film and would distribute it along with Cloud Nine Movies. Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin is a Tamil cinema producer. He is the owner of Red Giant Movies banner.His grandfather is M. Karunanidhi, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. His father is M. K. Stalin, the former deputy Chief Minister and former Home Minister of Tamil Nadu...
was said to have negotiated the deal and united the production houses to release the film jointly. Mankatha thus became the first Ajith Kumar film under Sun Pictures' banner as well as their first release after the assembly election. Actress Raadhika Sarathkumar
Raadhika Sarathkumar
Radhika Sarathkumar is a Tamil television and film actress, successful entrepreneur and producer. She is the founder of Radaan Mediaworks, which has produced the successful serials Chithi, Annamalai, Selvi, Arasi, and Idi Katha Kadu . She is currently acting in the serial Chellamay for Sun TV...
's Radaan Mediaworks distributed the film to Tamil Nadu theatres.
Dhayanidhi Azhagiri announced that the film would be a worldwide release with subtitles
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
in English, simultaneously opening across Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaysia, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and many other parts of Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Noted Telugu producer Bellamkonda Suresh acquired the film's dubbing rights by late August 2011 and released a dubbed Telugu version titled Gambler on September 9, 2011 across 225 screens, enabling the biggest opening for a dubbed version of a Tamil film. The film became scheduled for a release on September 1, 2011 in order to cash in on the Vinayaka Chaturthi-Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...
weekend, before Ayngaran International
Ayngaran International
Ayngaran is a film distribution and production company of Tamil films, based in the United Kingdom. The company has distributed various Indian-produced Tamil films in Europe and North America. It is also responsible for the production of Tamil films into home media, such as VHS, DVD, and blu-ray...
eventually finalized August 31, 2011 as the release date in overseas theatres few days later. In the United States, the film was released at 34 theatres.
The film was given a U/A (Parental guide) certificate by the Indian censor board
Central Board of Film Certification
The Central Board of Film Certification is a Government of India regulatory body and censorship board of India controlled by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It reviews, rates and censors motion pictures, television shows, television ads, and promotional material...
on August 23, 2011, and passed without any cuts
Cut (filmmaking)
In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a cut is an abrupt, but usually trivial film transition from one sequence to another. It is synonymous with the term edit, though "edit" can imply any number of transitions or effects. The cut, dissolve and wipe serve as the three...
, while few words were bleeped. One week later, the British Board of Film Classification
British Board of Film Classification
The British Board of Film Classification , originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification of films within the United Kingdom...
issued a 15 certificate
15 certificate
The 15 certificate is issued by the British Board of Film Classification to state that, in its opinion, a film, video recording, or game should not be seen or purchased by a person under 15 years old....
with an advice that it "contains strong threat and violence".
Critical reception
The film received generally positive reviews, with critics unanimously lauding Ajith Kumar's performance. IndiaGlitz wrote: "In Mankatha, Ajith pulls it off with his impeccable style and excellent performance, which is aptly supported by a racy script and brilliant execution by director Venkat Prabhu and his team" and termed the film as "'AttagasamAttagasam
Attahasam is a 2004 Tamil film directed by Saran featuring Ajith Kumar in dual lead roles with Pooja playing the female lead. Sujatha, Karunas and Ramesh Khanna play pivotal roles in the film, while the score and soundtrack are composed by Bharathwaj....
' of a 'Villain
Villain (2002 film)
Villain is a 2002 Tamil film directed by K.S. Ravikumar and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar in a dual role while Meena and Kiran play female leads. Sujatha, Fesi Vijayan, Karunaas and Ramesh Khanna appear in other significant roles, while Vidyasagar composed the score...
'". Access Kollywood gave it 4 out 5 stars,stating "You get to see a totally new Ajith; he is absolutely magnificent, no need to say more". Tamilstar gave it 4 of 5 while stating "Worth waiting, worth spending and worth watching!" Behindwoods gave it 3 out of 5, while citing: "Ajith's 'Golden' gamble with Venkat that has paid off. The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
critic Malathi Rangarajan called it a "gutsy" and "engaging game of cat and mouse that springs several surprises", adding that Venkat Prabhu had "laid out a filling spread this time". Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle rated it 3 out of 5 as well, claiming that Ajith "sparkles in his 50th film". Rediffs reviewer Pavithra Srinivasan gave the film 2.5 out of 5 and noted that the film worked "only because of Ajith", praising his performance, writing that he had "carried practically the whole film on his capable shoulders". Sify
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited is an Internet service provider established in 1998, based in Chennai, India.-Company profile:...
s critic highlighted that Ajith "steals the thunder and plays the emotionless bad man, to perfection", further adding that he looked "smashing and his scorching screen presence is unmatchable", while the reviewer criticized the script as being "dull". Supergoodfilms gave 3.5 out of 5 and stated "Its Ajith all the way. He is simply amazing in the role of a dreaded baddie. With his usual looks sans makeup, he hogs all limelight" Rohit Ramachandran of nowrunning.com rated Mankatha 2/5 stating that "Mankatha doesn't stand on independent merit. It rests on the fanboy's identity crisis."
Box office
Mankatha had a solo opening in Tamil NaduTamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
on August 31. It was said to have collected 25.2 crores from 370 screens during the opening five-day weekend, and around 30 crores in its first week. The film marked the high opening day and opening weekend gross in 2011 and became the best opening in Ajith Kumar's career, while also garnering the second-highest opening gross of all time for a Tamil film after Enthiran (2010). In Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
city alone, the film earned 2.72 crores in the first weekend from 19 screens. The multiplexes gave it the maximum number of shows including morning shows in all screens. At the Mayajaal multiplex, Mankatha was screened in all 14 screens on the first day, resulting in 70 shows, all being sold out, while Sathyam Cinemas reported a net of 33,72,000 from two screens for the five-day weekend. In Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, the film was released in the original language in Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
and Palakkad
Palakkad
Palakkad , formerly known as Palghat, is a municipality and a town in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km2.The city is situated about north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District...
districts on August 31 while a dubbed version released all over the state on September 9, opening at first rank, outclassing other Malayalam releases. In Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
, too, the film became declared an economical success, opening better than original Telugu ventures, while emerging successful at the Bengaluru box office as well.
The film opened at second rank in Malaysia, grossing $803,666 in its first weekend,with a per screen average of $19,602(Highest per screen average) claiming the second-highest opening weekend for a Tamil film. After 4 weeks, the film has collected 6 crores in Malaysia alone. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the film grossed $179,054 from 16 screens, opening at 16th rank, gaining the third-highest per-screen-average-rate ($11,191). Overall the film had collected $1,104,911 in Malaysia in 6 weeks, and $268,533 in UK at the end of the third week. The film is reported to have netted 80 crores in 30 days making it the fastest film to reach the mark after Enthiran.
Sequel
Shortly after the film's release and its high commercial success, Venkat PrabhuVenkat Prabhu
Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren , better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry...
confirmed the possibility of a sequel, provided that Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar
Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...
accepted. Sources also reported that Prabhu planned to use the initial script that he had penned before Ajith Kumar became part of the film.