# Maayavi

Maayavi (transl. Magician) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language black comedy film directed by Singampuli that stars Suriya and Jyothika who plays a fictional version of herself, whilst Vijayakanth makes a cameo. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The plot is loosely based on the novel The Fan Club by Irving Wallace.

## Plot

Abhes Balaiya (Suriya), the guide conman thief, is footloose and fancy-free. He and his acolyte Sathyaraj (Sathyan) have no hangups in life. Balaiya’s problems start when he and Sathyaraj land up in a huge villa on the beachfront. It is actually actress Jyothika’s (Jyothika) house. When they realize it, they want to replace what they have taken. As it happens, the actress catches them and creates a huge issue out of it. For their efforts, they are put behind bars. Jyothika does not like Balaiya at all. Balaiya goes out to take revenge on her and kidnap her. Just about when the whole industry and her family tries to trace Jyothika, she understands the real Balaiya. In the end, Balaiya comes to see her and gives her a gift, which is the photographs they took together.

## Cast

As per the film's opening credits:
* Suriya as Abhes Balayya
* Jyothika as herself
* Sathyan as Sathyaraj
* Sangili Murugan as Asari
* Himani Shivpuri as Jothika's mother
* Vishnupriya as Sigappi
* Shanmugaraj as Shanmugam
* Aarthi as Constable Eshwari
* Srilekha Rajendran as Asari's wife
* Besant Nagar Ravi as himself
* S. Ramana Girivasan as Inspector Neelakandan
* Ramu as Police officer
* Halwa Vasu as Pickpocket
* Muthukaalai as Chepauk railway station henchman
* Suruli Manohar as Watchman

### Special appearances

* Vijayakanth as himself (uncredited)
* K. S. Ravikumar as himself
* R. B. Choudary as himself
* Roja as herself
* Veerasami as himself
* R. Sundarrajan as himself
* R. Pandiarajan as himself
* Vikram Dharma as himself (uncredited)
* Rocky Rajesh as himself (uncredited)
* Appukutty as Volleyball player (uncredited)

## Production

Director Bala forayed into production with this film. Jyothika dubbed for herself.

## Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack, was scored by Devi Sri Prasad, marking his first collaboration with Suriya. Devi Sri Prasad reused the songs "Gongura Thotakada" and "Silakemo" from Venky and reused them as "Kaathadi Pole" and "Tamizh Naattil", respectively. The song "Kadavul Thantha Azhakiya Vaalvu" is based on "Eppudu" from Sontham.

## Release and reception

The Hindu wrote how the idea of an actress being kidnapped was present in the film Vaaname Ellai. Behindwoods noted that "Surya has given a superb performance. Jyothika is cute but does her bit of overacting". BizHat wrote "The downside of the film lies in the second half when the action shifts to a room with three characters only. A more innovative way could have made the film more interesting and racy." Chennai Online gave a negative review citing "It's meant to be a total comic entertainer, but the comedy being mostly juvenile, it starts grating on your nerves after a time." Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote a rusted screenplay doesn't need a grand plot. The first requirement is interesting and non-boring incidents. Mayavi is a colorful example of this. Sify wrote "Mayaavi is a jolly fun ride in the first half for its cute concept and silly slapstick comedy. The storyline has been explored earlier by Hollywood directors and later by Ramgopal Varma with Mast and recently in a Malayalam film Immini Nalloral. But the second half lags with too many unwanted sentiments and offers little in the way of surprise in the climax". The film was dubbed in Telugu as Kidnap (2006).