Chanakya (2005 film)

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Chanakya
Chanakya 2005 poster.jpg
Poster
Directed by A. Venkatesh
Written by Subha (dialogues)
Story by Panchu Arunachalam
Produced byVishwas Sundar
Starring R. Sarathkumar
Namitha
Laya
Cinematography Madhu Ambat
Edited by V. T. Vijayan
Music by Srikanth Deva
Production
company
Vishwas Films
Release date
  • 23 September 2005 (2005-09-23)
Running time
152 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Chanakya is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by A. Venkatesh and produced by Vishwas Sundar. It stars R. Sarathkumar, Namitha and Laya. The music was composed by Srikanth Deva with cinematography by Madhu Ambat and editing by V. T. Vijayan. The film was released on 23 September 2005. [1]

Contents

Plot

Ganesh is an auto driver and kind-hearted man who goes out of his way to earn money to help the poor and the needy. He likes to be in the limelight. Knowing well that the media would sensationalise anything that has to do with popular people in the city, he kidnaps a businessman, and in another instance, he implicates and submits himself to the police for a murder of an MLA that he does not commit. While he draws maximum publicity in the media, he creates a miserable life for the police. By his repeated pranks, Ganesh establishes himself as a person crazy only for publicity. People begin to call him "Publicity" Ganesh.

Devanayaki owns a restaurant, and several autos run in her name in the local area. She is head over heels in love with Ganesh and goes about wooing him. Meanwhile, Anjali approaches Ganesh to act in her ad films in return for handsome money, but she is actually an undercover agent investigating Ganesh's past.

Ganesh has a sorrow past. His past life and the reason for his current deeds are told in a flashback. Ganesh's father is an upright person who works as a clerk in a collectorate in a coastal village. A natural disaster strikes that area, and leaves many homeless in its wake. To ameliorate their problems, the government allocates Rs. 20 crore to help the affected people rehabilitate. Unfortunately, the local assistant collector, the local MLA, and the local SP together form a trio and forget the grant, even while pretending to protect the best interest of the people. Ganesh's father learns of the trio's involvement in the heist and vows to expose them to the public, but the "representatives of authority" frame false charges and deceitfully turn the public outrage against Ganesh's father. In a melee, Ganesh's family is burnt alive. Ganesh escapes to the city, and avenges the death of his family.

Ganesh then orchestrates the killing of the shenanigans.

Cast

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Srikanth Deva. [2]

SongSingersLyrics
"Alaudin" Srikanth Deva, Vadivelu, Roshini Vijay Sagar
"Onnu Vaanguna" Anuradha Sriram, Tippu Victor Dass
"Romba Azhagu" Karthik, Anuradha Sriram Kabilan
"Tharuviya Tharamatiya" Sarath Kumar, Josh
"Voochi Voochi" Shankar Mahadevan Kalaikumar

Critical reception

Sify wrote, "For those seeking masala entertainment, Chanakya is worth the price of ticket money". [3] Lajjavathi of Kalki praised Vadivelu's humour, Subha's dialogues but panned Srikanth Deva's background score and concluded saying Sarath needs to have a Chanakya-like mind in choosing stories. [4] S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu appreciated the cast performances (especially Sarathkumar), Vadivelu's comedy and Madhu Ambat's cinematography but criticised the music and felt the fight sequences were routine. [5]

Controversy

Jananayaka Munnetra Kazhagam, a political party filed a case against the filmmakers for portraying their party flag in negative light in the film. [6]

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References

  1. "Chanakya (2005)". Screen 4 Screen. Archived from the original on 15 February 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
  2. "Chanakya (2005)". Raaga.com . Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  3. "Chanakya". Sify . Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  4. லஜ்ஜாவதி (9 October 2005). "சாணக்யா". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 92. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024 via Internet Archive.
  5. Kumar, S. R. Ashok (30 September 2005). "Glamour and action aplenty". The Hindu . Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  6. "'Stop Chanakya" – party opposes Sarath Kumar's film". Cinesouth. 1 October 2005. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2024.