Naan (2012 film)

Naan(English:Me) is a 2012IndianTamil-languagecrime thriller filmwritten and directed byJeeva Shankarin his directorial debut. ComposerVijay Antonyplays the lead role of apsychopathickiller; he also produced the film and worked as the music director.Siddharth VenugopalandRupa Manjariappeared in supporting roles. The filming ofNaanbegan in October 2011,and the film was released on 15 August 2012. The movie was remade in Bengali in 2015 asAmanush 2and in Kannada in 2016 asAsthitva. The film was followed by a sequel titledSalim, an action thriller that released in 2014. The plot of the film is loosely based on 1999 American filmThe Talented Mr. Ripley.
Karthik is a brilliant student but already shows signs of criminal behavior in childhood, likeforginghis friend's parent's signature on a report card. Sent home from school early for this misdeed, Karthik is shocked to discover his motherin bedwith a neighbor. His mother begs him not to tell his father, but he does so, and his father commitssuicide. Karthik's mother continues her illicit relationship.  One day, Karthik kills his mother and her lover by setting the house on fire. He is sent to ajuvenile homewhere he grows up. On his release, the warden gives him the address of another of his uncles and asks him to concentrate on his studies.
Karthik's aunt is not interested in taking him in, so he goes toChennaito start a new life. As fate would have it, the bus meets with an accident, and his fellow passenger, Mohammed Salim, is killed. Karthik steals Salim's documents, adopts his identity, and enrolls in a government medical college inMBBS. He befriends a rich classmate named Ashok, his girlfriend Rupa, and their friend Suresh. Ashok allows Salim to stay in his house rent-free. Later, Salim and Ashok encounter the same warden from the former's juvenile home, who seems to recognize Karthik. However, since Karthik is now impersonating Salim, he picks up an argument with the warden and swears that he is not the person he thinks he is. Nevertheless, Ashok becomes suspicious of his new friend.
One day Ashok and Suresh go to afarmhousewithout Rupa. Suresh suggests that they take some other girls along. Salim lets Rupa know of this plan due to her sincere and true love for Ashok. Rupa starts to suspect that Ashok is cheating on her, while Ashok worries that Salim betrayed him by complaining about him to Rupa. Ashok slaps Salim angrily and tells him to move out. Katrhik apologizes to him and agrees to look for another lodging.
While Karthik takes a bath, Ashok opens his briefcase. He finds a photo of Karthik's biological father and realizes that it was a different man that Karthik had introduced as his actual father earlier. Suddenly, Karthik enters the room and asks Ashok to give back the photo. Ashok refuses, removes Karthik's's towel, and confirms that he is not aMuslim, as he is notcircumcised. Salim gets angry and pushes Ashok; Ashok hits his head on a table and dies. At first, Karthik is horrified by what he has done, but he then covers up the murder by burying Ashok's body in agraveyardon the outskirts so intelligently that no one ever finds out that Ashok is dead. When a family friend of Ashok's, who has not seen Ashok since he was a child, plans to meet him, Karthik successfully impersonates Ashok, fooling even Ashok's parents and Rupa.
Suresh, however, discovers Karthik's deception, so Karthik kills him and buries him in the same graveyard. The following day, the police come to Ashok's house and reveal that they have found Suresh's corpse. They interrogate several people in the city, including Karthik, but he fools them into concluding that Ashok killed Suresh and fled; meanwhile, they consider Karthik (now back to impersonating Salim) an innocent and a hard-working student. Karthik continues to live as Salim after tricking Salim's father into giving him his son's inheritance. The film ends with the tagline "To Be Continued".
The film was initially launched in 2008, withSiddharth VenugopalandRukmini Vijayakumarplaying the lead roles, however, due to the failure of his previous filmAnanda Thandavam, the producerOscar Ravichandrancalled off the project.The film restarted with Vijay Antony's intervention in October 2011 who also took the lead role from Siddharth.
The soundtrack has six tracks, composed byVijay Antonyhimself. FollowingYuvan Shankar Raja, who createdsingletracks inVaanamandMankatha, Vijay Antony too released a single track "Makkayala Makkayala" in June 2012. All the songs in the album are composed by Vijay Antony.
Malathi Rangarajan ofThe Hindupraised as "Well done!" and said: "A plethora of pluses makeNaanwatch-worthy. Vijay Antony’s acumen comes to the fore in his choice of a subject that’s strong and a character that’s stronger".N. Venkateswaran ofThe Times of IndiagaveNaan3.5 out of 5 stars, writing that "but for some minor blips, the writing (and therefore the movie too) is pretty gripping throughout, and keeps the audience on the edge of the seats", calling it "[T]he perfect thriller to spice up the weekend".IBNLivewrotet that "'Naan' is racy and appealing"  and also adding that "it is a racy crime thriller that is quite an appealing effort from Jeeva Shankar and Vijay Antony."The Behindwoods Review Board gave the film 2.5 out of 5, calling it a "suspense thriller that works for most parts."Deccan Chroniclestated that "Vijay Antony changes beat".Sifyrated it average, calling it a "decent psychological thriller."
Upon release, it was noted that the film had been inspired by the 1999 American filmThe Talented Mr. Ripley.
It was remade in Bengali asAmanush 2which released in April 2015.Kannada Remake released in 2016 asAsthitva.
A sequel to the movie was released in August 2014 calledSalim. In March 2014, it was reported that the film would be remade inHindiwithPrashanthin the lead role. Despite a production delay,Thiagarajanconfirmed during an interview that the film would be made in February 2017.