Mafia: Chapter 1

Last updated

Mafia: Chapter 1
Mafia Chapter 1 poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Karthick Naren
Produced by Allirajah Subaskaran
Starring Arun Vijay
Prasanna
Priya Bhavani Shankar
CinematographyGokul Benoy
Edited bySreejith Sarang
Music by Jakes Bejoy
Production
company
Release date
  • 21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)
Running time
114 minutes
Country India
LanguageTamil

Mafia: Chapter 1, known simply as Mafia [1] is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Karthick Naren and produced by Allirajah Subaskaran under Lyca Productions. The film stars Arun Vijay in dual role ,Priya Bhavani Shankar and Prasanna in the lead roles. [2] [3] The music was composed by Jakes Bejoy, while cinematography was handled by Gokul Benoy and editing by Sreejith Sarang. [4]

Contents

Filming was completed on 29 August 2019.

Mafia: Chapter 1 was released on 21 February 2020 to mixed reviews from critics and became an average grosser at the box office.

Plot

Aryan, an NCB officer in Chennai, works with his teammates Sathya and Varun to eliminate drug lords known as Snake's Den. Aryan lost his twin brother Dilip due to drug addiction, which led him to become an NCB officer. Alongside Aryan's team are his team supervisor Selvam and Mugilan, a social activist and Aryan's neighbour. Aryan returns home and receives a news that Selvam has died due to a gunshot. Aryan and Sathya investigate around Selvam's house, where they concludes that a drug lord was also involved in Selvam's death. Mugilan is also targeted by the drug lord and his bodyguard also gets killed.

Before his death, Mugilan provides information about the drug lord in a USB stick, attached to the collar of his dog Pogo and sends Aryan a message. Aryan tracks down Pogo with the tracking chip installed in his collar and checks the information. The drug lord is Diwakar "DK" Kumaran, a philanthropic businessman and drug trafficker. Mugilan suspected DK's early source of income was with links of international drug cartels. DK and his brother Rudra had links with politicians so that their business cannot be derailed. Knowing this, Mugilan and Selvam decided to investigate a place thought to be D.K's secret hideout, but they were both caught.

Aryan finally concludes D.K's role in drug dealing, while DK deduces that Aryan and his team are after him and abducts Aryan's family. DK tells Aryan to meet his doom at a warehouse. With a plan, Aryan and his team tries foiling DK's plans in one night and finally manages to catch DK, who kills himself to prevent going into custody. In his dying moments, DK tells Aryan that he is not the main drug lord. It is later revealed that Dilip is actually alive and is the main drug lord with codenames Dexter and Cobra. DK and Dilip were best friends. After escaping from a police attack, Dilip had faked his death when he and DK found a bounty to start their drug business. After learning Aryan's involvement in DK's death and destroying his business, Dilip reveals his identity to Aryan and swears to exact vengeance.

Cast

Production

Development

After the success of Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru , Karthick Naren started work on his second project titled Naragasooran , which remained unreleased despite production completed in 2017. [5] Naren's third film Naadaga Medai, starring Kalidas Jayaram, Rahman, Parthiban and Gautham Karthik, was also put on hold. [6] In June 2018, Naren narrated a script to Silambarasan, who agreed to do the film. However, the project was not being confirmed. [7] In March 2019, Lyca Productions signed Naren for his upcoming project, which stars Arun Vijay in the leading role. [8] Prasanna was reported to play the antagonist and Nivetha Pethuraj was signed for a pivotal role, whom she was replaced by Priya Bhavani Shankar. [9] In May 2019, the makers announced the film's title as Mafia. [10]

Filming

Principal photography began on 31 May 2019 in Chennai. [11] The shooting of the film's first schedule undergone a brisk pace and was completed on 2 July 2019. [12] The makers started the second schedule of the film on 5 July 2019, soon after the completion of the first schedule. [13] It was touted to be shot in eleven days, thus the film's shoot is scheduled to be completed within 37 days. [13] On 18 August, Priya Bhavani Shankar tweeted that she had completed shooting her portions for the film. [14] Within few days, Arun Vijay and Prasanna headed to Thailand to shoot some crucial action sequences. [15] On 26 August, it was announced that the makers had completed shooting for the film. [16]

Soundtrack

The film's music is composed by Jakes Bejoy with lyrics written by Vivek and Travis A. King. The soundtrack album featuring three tracks was released on 7 February 2020. [17]

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Vedan Vendaacho" Vivek Vijay Prakash, Sathya Prakash, Saint TFC [18] 3:58
2."Beast In The House"Vivek, Travis A. King Sunitha Sarathy, Travis A. King4:00
3."Dexter Theme"  Instrumental 1:40

Reception

Critical response

Thinkal Menon of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mafia would appeal to fans of action movies, especially those which have stylish narcotics backdrop." [19] Sreedhar Pillai of Firstpost gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mafia: Chapter I is stylishly cut but has very little substance. But the climax has kindled the expectation meter for Chapter II." [20] Behindwoods gave it 2.75/5 and wrote "Mafia is an action flick that is majorly uplifted by the stylish treatment and a smart climax for the sequel." [21]

Anupama Subramanian of Deccan Chronicle gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Overall, Chapter 1 of Mafia is a flat sequence of nice artwork and choreography. Chapter 2 has much ground to make up." [22] S. Subhakeerthana of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The biggest problem is that Mafia: Chapter 1 is so randomly written". [23] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute gave 2/5 stars and wrote "Karthick falls back on voiceovers and an excessive use of English in the dialogues to keep up the sophisticated tone, but the writing falls flat". [24]

Srivatsan. S of The Hindu wrote "Arun Vijay and Prasanna struggle hard to keep the tension alive in an adequate thriller that abuses its own substance". [25] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "Mafia may come across as slightly over stylised for a story set in Chennai and involving officers of the Narcotics Control Bureau, but once you get used to the world, you’re in for a surprise". [26] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote ""Style" isn't just about posing. It isn't just about looking "cool". And it's certainly more than just colour schemes and costumes. The bigger disappointment in Mafia is that there's no style in the writing." [27]

Sequel

A sequel titled Mafia: Chapter 2 is in the works, continuing on the story from the first chapter. [28]

Related Research Articles

Prasanna Venkatesan, often credited mononymously as Prasanna, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry and alongside appeared in a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.

<i>Nammavar</i> 1994 film by K. S. Sethumadhavan

Nammavar is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan and produced by B. Venkatarama Reddy. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Gautami, while Nagesh, Senthil, Kovai Sarala, Srividya and Karan play supporting roles. It follows a history lecturer of a college and how he tries to reform the downtrodden college by his initiatives and its consequences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arun Vijay</span> Indian actor

Arun Vijay, formerly known as Arun Kumar, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He also starred in a few films in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

Sanjeev Venkat is an Indian film and television actor. He is most known for his role as Selvam in the Tamil drama serial on Sun TV titled Thirumathi Selvam (2007–2013) in which he starred opposite Abitha. He has acted in other serials, such as Metti Oli, Anandham, Annamalai, Aval,Yaaradi Nee Mohini and Kanmani.

<i>Chithiram Pesuthadi 2</i> 2019 film by Rajan Madhav

Chithiram Pesuthadi 2 is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language hyperlink drama film written and directed by Rajan Madhav. It features an ensemble cast including Vidharth, Ajmal Ameer, Ashok Kumar, Radhika Apte, Nivedhitha, Gayathrie, Nivas Adithan, and newcomers Nandan Loganathan and Priya Banerjee. The film has music composed by Sajan Madhav, cinematography by Padmesh and editing by K. Venkatramanan. The film is a connection of four different stories that happen in 48 hours. The satellite rights of the film were sold to Colors Tamil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priya Bhavani Shankar</span> Indian actress

Sathyapriya Bhavani Shankar is an Indian actress and former television presenter who primarily appears in Tamil films, in addition to a few Telugu films. She made her acting debut with commercially successful Tamil film Meyaadha Maan (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyca Productions</span> Indian film studio founded in 2014

Lyca Productions is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by Subaskaran Allirajah in 2014. A subgroup of Lycamobile, the production studio has been involved in the production and distribution of Tamil films, Hindi films,Telugu films and Malayalam films made in India. It has produced some of Tamil cinema's biggest budget films, such as 2.0 (2018), Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023)

<i>Thiruttu Payale 2</i> 2017 Indian film

Thiruttu Payale 2 is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed and written by Susi Ganeshan. A spiritual successor to his earlier Thiruttu Payale (2006), the film features Bobby Simha, Prasanna and Amala Paul in the lead roles. The film features music composed by Vidyasagar, while Raja Mohammad was the editor. Produced by AGS Entertainment, the venture began production in October 2016 and was released on 30 November 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karthick Naren</span> Indian filmmaker (born 1994)

Karthick Naren is an Indian filmmaker who works in Tamil cinema. Naren broke into the Tamil film industry having had directed several award-winning short films like Pradhi and Nirangal Moondru before his feature film debut. He made his big screen debut through the 2016 film Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru which went on to become a sleeper hit.

<i>Naragasooran</i> Unreleased film directed by Karthick Naren

Naragasooran is an unreleased Indian Tamil-language supernatural horror film written and directed by Karthick Naren. Produced by Badri Kasthuri, it features an ensemble cast led by Aravind Swamy, Shriya Saran, Sundeep Kishan, Aathmika and Indrajith Sukumaran. It is the second film in Naren's "thriller trilogy", with the first one being Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru, and it also stands as a spin-off of the former.

<i>Meyaadha Maan</i> 2017 film by Rathna Kumar

Meyaadha Maan is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Rathna Kumar in his directorial debut. Produced by Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Creations. The film stars Vaibhav and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the lead, the latter in her film debut with Vivek Prasanna, Indhuja Ravichandran, Arun Prasath and Amrutha Srinivasan in supporting roles. It is an adaptation of Kumar's own short film Madhu, which he had directed for the Stone Bench Creation's anthology film Bench Talkies.

<i>Kuruthi Aattam</i> 2022 film directed by Sri Ganesh

Kuruthi Aattam is an 2022 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Sri Ganesh. It features Atharvaa, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Radhika Sarathkumar, Radha Ravi, Vatsan Chakravarthy, Vinod Sagar, Kanna Ravi and Prakash Raghavan.

<i>Velvet Nagaram</i> 2020 Indian Tamil language psychological thriller film

Velvet Nagaram is a 2020 Indian Tamil language psychological thriller film written and directed by Manojkumar Natarajan on his directorial debut. The film casts Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in the lead role. The film is bankrolled by Arun Karthik's Makers Studios and Achu Rajamani and Saran Raghavan composes music for the film. The film had its theatrical release on 6 March 2020 and received mixed to negative reviews from critics.

<i>Master</i> (2021 film) 2021 film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj

Master is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by XB Film Creators. The film stars Vijay in the titular role, alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Malavika Mohanan, Andrea Jeremiah, Arjun Das, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, and Gouri G. Kishan. It is also co-produced by Vijay's manager, Jagadish Palanisamy, jointly with Seven Screen Studio, which also distributed the film. The film follows John Durairaj "J.D.", an alcoholic professor, who takes a three-month teaching job in a juvenile home and clashes with a ruthless gangster named Bhavani, who uses the children as the scapegoat for his criminal activities.

<i>Kaatrin Mozhi</i> (TV series) Tamil television drama

Kaatrin Mozhi is a 2019-2021 Indian-Tamil language television series that aired on Star Vijay. It premiered on 7 October 2019 and ended on 9 April 2021 after 331 episodes. The show stars Priyanka Jain and Sanjeev as well as Manoharan. It is an official remake of the Telugu serial Mounaraagam which aired on Star Maa. Priyanka M Jain reprises her role in both versions.

Smruthi Venkat is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Tamil language films. She made her acting debut with commercially success film Thadam which was released in 2019.

<i>Kalathil Santhippom</i> 2021 Indian Tamil-language sports action drama masala film by N. Rajasekar

Kalathil Santhippom is a 2021 Indian Tamil language sports action drama film written and directed by N. Rajasekar with dialogues penned by R. Ashok. The film stars Jiiva, Arulnithi, Manjima Mohan and Priya Bhavani Shankar. The film is based on the sport of kabaddi and the friendship between two men Ashok and Anand who were initially regarded as rivals. The film also marked the posthumous release of actor Naadodigal Gopal who died on 5 March 2020 prior to the film release. It had its theatrical release on 5 February 2021 and opened to positive reviews from critics and became an average hit at the box office.

<i>Maaran</i> (2022 film) 2022 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film

Maaran is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film written and directed by Karthick Naren, with the screenplay and dialogues were co-written by Suhas-Sharfu and Vivek. Produced by T. G. Thyagarajan, Sendhil Thyagarajan and Arjun Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films, the film stars Dhanush, Smruthi Venkat and Malavika Mohanan, with Samuthirakani, Ramki, Mahendran and Krishnakumar Balasubramanian appearing in supporting roles. The music is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, with cinematography handled by Vivekanand Santhosham and editing handled by Prasanna G. K.

<i>Yaanai</i> 2022 film directed by Hari

Yaanai (transl. Elephant) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Hari and produced by Vedikkaranpatti S. Sakthivel under the banner of Drumsticks Productions. The film stars Arun Vijay, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Ramachandra Raju, Samuthirakani, Rajesh, Radhika Sarathkumar, Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran, Ammu Abhirami, Yogi Babu and Pugazh. The soundtrack and background score were composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Gopinath and Anthony.

<i>Oh My Dog</i> 2022 Tamil film

Oh My Dog is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language children's comedy drama film written and directed by debutant Sarov Shanmugam. Produced by Suriya and Jyothika under the 2D Entertainment banner, the film stars Arun Vijay and his son Arnav Vijay in his debut with Vinay Rai, Mahima Nambiar and Vijayakumar in the supporting roles. The film's music and score is composed by Nivas K. Prasanna, with cinematography handled by Gopinath and editing done by Meghanathan. The film was released on the digital streaming platform Amazon Prime Video on 21 April 2022.

References

  1. ↑ Arun Vijay is thrilled about Mafia
  2. ↑ Lakshmi, V. "Mafia will be a high-octane gangster drama: Karthick Naren". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Subramanian, Anupama (3 July 2019). "Mafia not usual North Chennai story". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Mafia first look: Arun Vijay looks dapper in Karthick Naren's next". The Indian Express. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Karthick Naren opens up on 'Naragasooran' controversy". The Times of India. 2 August 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  6. ↑ "Director Karthick Naren's next titled 'Naadaga Medai'". The Times of India. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  7. ↑ "Simbu and Karthick Naren to join hands?". The Times of India. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "Arun Vijay to do a film with Karthick Naren?". The Times of India. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  9. ↑ "It's Arun Vijay versus Prasanna". The Times of India. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Karthick Naren's next film with Arun Vijay is titled Mafia". India Today. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Arun Vijay and Karthick Naren's Mafia kicks off today". The Times of India. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Mafia shoot is progressing at a brisk pace". The Times of India. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  13. 1 2 "'Mafia': Second schedule of the Arun Vijay starrer begins". The Times of India. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Priya Bhavani Shankar wraps up shoot for Mafia". The Times of India. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "Arun Vijay and Prasanna off to Thailand for Mafia shoot". The Times of India. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Karthick Naren wraps up shoot of Mafia". The Times of India. 27 August 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "Birthday Special: Arun Vijay's upcoming movies which will leave you spellbound". The Times of India. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "SAINT TFC (@sainttfc) • Instagram photos and videos".
  19. ↑ "Mafia: Chapter 1 Movie Review : The way the film ends makes us eagerly wait for the next chapter". The Times of India . Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  20. ↑ "Mafia: Chapter I movie review — Arun Vijay's thriller is an uber-stylish film with a wafer-thin plot". Firstpost. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  21. ↑ "Mafia (aka) Maafia review". Behindwoods. 21 February 2020.
  22. ↑ "Mafia Chapter 1 review: Game of chess between cop and drug kingpin". Deccan Chronicle. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  23. ↑ "Mafia movie review: Stylish but hollow gangster drama". The Indian Express. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  24. ↑ "'Mafia: Chapter 1' review: Style, swag and no substance". The News Minute. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  25. ↑ S, Srivatsan (21 February 2020). "'Mafia: Chapter 1' movie review: A wonderfully ordinary movie with a great presentation". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  26. ↑ "Mafia movie review: Karthick Naren's film is a smart, ultra-stylized gangster drama". Hindustan Times. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  27. ↑ "Karthick Naren's Mafia: Chapter 1, Starring Arun Vijay, Mistakes Slo-Mo For Style". FilmCompanion. 4 March 2020.
  28. ↑ "Mafia Chapter 2? Arun Vijay Exclusive Interview". IndiaGlitz.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.