# Kanchana (2011 film)

Kanchana (also known as Muni 2: Kanchana) is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film written, produced and directed by Raghava Lawrence. It is a sequel to his previous venture, Muni (2007) and the second instalment in the Muni film series. The film stars Lawrence alongside R. Sarathkumar in the title role alongside Lakshmi Rai and Kovai Sarala while Devadarshini and Sriman play supporting roles. The film revolves around Raghava, who is scared to venture outside but gets possessed by a ghost and starts behaving weirdly.
The film's cinematography and editing were handled by Vetri and Kishore Te, respectively. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman. The film's distribution rights were bought by Sri Thenandal Films.
Kanchana's Tamil version was released on 22 July 2011 while a same-titled Telugu dubbed version was released a week earlier on 15 July 2011. The film became a commercial success in both languages and has been remade in several languages.

## Plot

Raghava, an unemployed youth, has developed an irrational phasmophobia and refuses to step out of his house after sunset, chooses to sleep in his mother's room, and forces her to accompany him to the restroom at night. His antics disrupt the peace of his family, which includes his widowed mother, Sarala, his elder brother, Prasad, the latter's wife, Kamakshi, and their children. Raghava and his companions, who usually play cricket on a ground, are compelled to search for another as construction activity is bound to take place in it, and unwittingly choose an abandoned land, which is believed to be haunted by supernatural forces.
While they try setting up the cricket pitch, a peculiar weather change causes them to abandon the land and return home, but Raghava doesn't notice that his cricket stumps are stained with blood after piercing corpses buried under the land. Raghava woos Kamakshi's younger sister, Priya, who has come to stay with them, while Sarala and Kamakshi become panic-stricken by perpetual supernatural occurrences at their residence. Hiding it from their family, Sarala and Kamakshi consult a priest, who suggests three rituals to test the presence of a spirit in their home. Raghava, Priya, and the kids get sent to Kamakshi's maternal home to check on Kamakshi's ill father, which is actually a lie told to prevent Raghava from obstructing the rituals. Sarala and Kamakshi's suspicions turn out to be true after they perform the rituals and to chase the ghost away, they hire two priests, who ask them to stay outside the house while they try to capture the ghost. However, they are actually con men who are chased away from the house but mislead Sarala and Kamakshi into believing that they have seized the ghost, and they get paid. Raghava, Priya, and the kids return home the next day. On the same night, Raghava gets possessed by the ghost.
From the succeeding day, Raghava begins to act effeminate and detaches himself from Priya. While in a shopping complex with his mother and sister-in-law, Raghava continues to act unmanly and wears a saree and women's jewellery, embarrassing Sarala, who slaps him. Raghava strangles a woman, Madhavi, to death and later disposes of her corpse, unbeknownst to anyone. Kamakshi, that night, witnesses Raghava wearing her bangles and eventually exposes his womanish acts to Prasad, and the family confronts him. Then, the family discovers that Raghava is possessed by three spirits: a woman, an Urdu-speaking Muslim, and an autistic man. Frightened, the family approaches a Muslim exorcist, who drives the spirit away from Raghava's body and forces the woman's spirit to reveal who she is. The woman discloses herself as a transgender woman, Kanchana, who reveals her past.
As a child, Kartik got disowned by her parents when they discovered that he is a trans woman. Kartik got adopted by a Muslim named Akbar Bhai, who had an autistic son , he sympathised with Kartik and gave him refuge and renamed him Kanchana. Regretting that she could not become a doctor due to her struggles, Kanchana slogged to have her adopted daughter Geetha, another trans woman pursue her medical studies. Geetha eventually secured a scholarship and was sent abroad for post-graduation, while Kanchana bought a plot of land, intending to build a hospital there for the poor. However, the plot of land had been unlawfully seized by an MLA named Shankar for his love interest, Madhavi. When Kanchana and Akbar Bhai confronted Shankar for his act, he brutally murdered them and tricked Akbar's autistic son to commit suicide. He then proceeded to bury the corpses on Kanchana's plot of land.
The exorcist sympathises with Kanchana but bound by his responsibility, he seals her away inside a protected container and also secures Raghava with a amulet. Raghava, however, realises that Kanchana has been doing this for a good cause, removes his amulet and allows her to possess him. Raghava/Kanchana fights Shankar and his henchmen, but Shankar seeks refuge in a Narasimha temple, which spirits cannot enter. Kanchana prays to the god to let her enter his temple so she can kill Shankar for justice to win. She gets to enter the temple and kills Shankar the way Narasimha had killed Hiranyakashipu.
A few years later, Raghava, Priya, and the family take part in the inauguration ceremony of the hospital built on the plot of land as per Kanchana's wishes. A few local goons come to threaten them for money. Kanchana possesses Raghava, indicating that she will return when help is needed.

## Cast

* Raghava Lawrence as Raghava and Kanchana
* R. Sarathkumar as Kanchana
* Lakshmi Rai as Priya, Raghava's girlfriend and Kamakshi's younger sister
* Kovai Sarala as Sarala, Raghava's mother
* Devadarshini as Kamakshi, Raghava's sister-in-law and Priya's elder sister
* Sriman as Prasad, Raghava's elder brother and Kamakshi's husband
* Devan as MLA Shankar
* Babu Antony as Akbar Bhai
* Priya as Krishnan alias "Geetha"
** Sarvesh Rao as young Geetha
* Manobala as fake priest
* Mayilsamy as fake priest
* Minnal Deepa as Madhavi, Shankar's girlfriend
* Boys Rajan as School Head Master
* Munnar Ramesh as Manickam, Karthik's father
* Sampath Ram as Kanchana's stabber
* Jasper as Bhai
* Rangammal

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman.

## Reception
### Critical response

Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com wrote "It is torturous and tedious to watch, the chills and thrills are not spine-chilling and a soundtrack that is supposed to be eerie is anything but. There's quite a bit of unintended comedy too". Venkat Arikatla of Great Andhra wrote "As for Lawrence, his intention was to target the mass audience and he has been fairly successful in his attempt as compared to his prequel by infusing good depth and emotional intensity". Sify wrote, "On the whole, Kanchana is an entertaining affair and can be watched once". Y. Sunita Chowdhary of The Hindu wrote, "The film is awkwardly cobbled together with big shifts in character that comes with an explanation only in the last 20 minutes of the film. The character of the transvestite is more based on wishful thinking than plausible reality".

### Box office

According to Sify, Kanchana emerged 2011's most successful Tamil film based on return on investment. The film, made on a budget of ₹7 crore (US$800,000) and marketed for ₹1.5 crore (US$170,000), had its Telugu dubbing rights sold to Bellamkonda Suresh for ₹4 crore (US$460,000). The film was expected to gross ₹15 to 20 crore share from Tamil Nadu alone at the end of its run.

## Accolades

| Event | Category | Nominee(s) | Verdict |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Best Choreographer | Raghava Lawrence | Won |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Best Comedian (Female) | Devadarshini | Won |
| 6th Vijay Awards | Best Supporting Actor | R. Sarathkumar | Won |
| 6th Vijay Awards | Best Female Comedian | Kovai Sarala | Won |
| 1st South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | R. Sarathkumar | Won |

## Sequels and remakes

The third instalment in the Muni series, titled Kanchana 2 was released in 2015, and the fourth instalment Kanchana 3 was released on 2019. Kanchana was remade in Kannada as Kalpana (2012). Lawrence himself directed the Hindi remake titled Laxmii (2020). In 2016 the Sri Lankan remake Maya was released. It was unofficially remade in Burmese as Tar Tay Gyi (2017). In 2017, the Bengali language remake was released, titled Mayabini.

## Legacy

The song "Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae" inspired the title of a 2017 film.