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Mayavi
Directed by	Shafi
Written by	Rafi Mecartin
Produced by	P. Rajan
Starring	Mammootty Gopika
Cinematography	Sanjeev Sankar
Edited by	K. P. Hariharaputhran
Music by	Alex Paul
Production company	Vaishaka Movies
Distributed by	Vaishaka Release
Release date	3 February 2007 (2007-02-03)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Mayavi (English: The Genie) is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Shafi and written by the Rafi Mecartin duo, starring Mammootty in the title role with Gopika, Sai Kumar, Manoj K. Jayan, Salim Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vijayaraghavan and Santhosh Jogi in supporting roles. It was a commercial success and was remade in Tamil as Vallakottai in 2010. The film was a major commercial success and was the highest grossing malayalam movie of the year.

Plot

Small time criminal, Mahi gets released from prison early. He has a reputation of beating up his rivals in the darkness. Mahi wants to help fellow inmate Balan whose brother Satheesh is in need of money for a life saving operation. A fellow crook, Giri proposes an assignment for Mahi which will earn him enough money for the operation. Thottappally Surendran plans to murder Sivasankaran to settle an old score. Sivasankaran is serving life sentence for killing Surendran's father and is due to be released on short term parole. As part of a master plot, Surendran wants another man to accept the criminal charge and punishment.

Mahi takes up the assignment and sets off to the island village along with Giri. During the boat service to the village, they meet Indu, the caretaker of Sivasankaran. During the trip, Indu gets harassed by Thottappally Sugunan, Surendran's brother. Mahi saves Indu with a single kick at Sugunan from the back which causes the boat to sink. Mahi saves the unconscious Indu from drowning and flees the scene immediately. On meeting Surendran, Mahi agrees to the task for Rs 8,00,000. Mahi and Giri are instructed to hang around the fishing village till Sivasankaran arrives on parole. Kannan Srank, a henchman of Surendran acts as their local contact.

On Surendran's instruction, Kannan Srank plots to defame Indu by accusing her of having an affair with Mahi. Indu loses her job at the harbour. Aaranaimuttom Devaki saves Indu from further embarrassment. Mahi and Indu get to know each other. Mahi realises that Indu's younger sister Ammu is Sathessh's girlfriend. Sugunan tries to frame Ammu in a fraud charge. Mahi beats Sugunan up by covering Sugnan's face with Sugnan's mundu . He does the same with Surendran by mixing chilli powder and sand then throwing it at his face. Both of them do not get a clue who was the attacker.

The villagers speculate about a "Mayavi" (magician) behind the attack. Kannan Srank's bogus claims of knowing Mayavi add further fuel for the speculations. Mahi in pretense of Mayavi uses Kannan Srank to prove the innocence of both Ammu and Indu and exposes Thottappally brothers. Indu joins back the job at the harbour. Mahi through Kannan Srank also offers protection for Sivasankaran in exchange for medical expenses for Satheesh. Kannan Srank go further on behalf by plotting a story in which Mayavi is in love with Indu.

Sivasankaran arrives at the village knowing all about the plot to kill him. He commands Mahi and Giri to leave immediately. In the hospital meeting Satheesh, Sivasankaran mistakes Balan as Mayavi. Balan turns out to be a crook and he decides to play along even without knowing the entire story. Indu refuses to believe that Balan is Mayavi. Yatheendran, another convict identifies Mahi as Mayavi and Thottappally brothers entrusts Yatheendran to kill Mahi. Mahi beats up Yatheendran and Thottappally brothers and spoils the plot to kill Sivasankaran. Sivasankaran, however still believes Balan is Mayavi and decides to fix Indu's wedding with Balan and make Balan a partner in his businesses. Mahi tries to stop Balan from his activities which make him furious and turns against him. How Mahi makes Sivasankaran believe the truth remains in the rest of the story.

Cast

• Mammootty as Mahi aka Mayavi
• Manoj K. Jayan as Balan
• Sai Kumar as Aaranimuttom Sivasankaran Pillai
• Salim Kumar as Kannan Srank
• Suraj Venjaramoodu as Parumala Giri
• Vijayaraghavan as Thottappally Surendran
• Santhosh Jogi as Thottappally Sugunan
• Gopika as Indu
• Spadikam George as Police Officer
• Mohan Raj as Yatheendran
• P. Sreekumar as Advocate Hari
• Cochin Haneefa as Jailor
• K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Aaranimuttom Devaki
• Tony Sijimon as Sivasankaran's son
• Mamukkoya as Koya
• Manikuttan as Satheesh
• Narayanankutty as Sasi
• Bindu Panicker as Thottappally Surendran's Wife
• T. P. Madhavan as Home Minister
• Nimisha Suresh as Ammu (Indu's Sister)
• Vishnu Unnikrishnan
• Kalabhavan Rahman as Kumaran

Soundtrack

The songs are composed by Alex Paul. The soundtrack album, which was released in 2007, features four songs overall, with lyrics written by Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma.

Reception

The film was a commercial success. The film collected ₹2.21 crore in its first week from 45 screens in Kerala. At Thiruvananthapuram Ajantha and Sri, it grossed nearly ₹11 lakhs in its first week. The film collected ₹11 crore within 50 days of its release and a distributor share of more than ₹6 crores in 50 days. It became the first Malayalam film of 2007 to run for 100 days in theatres, grossing ₹15 crore. In 100 days, the film had collected ₹61 lakhs from main centers like Thiruvananthapuram. It was the highest grossing Malayalam film of the year 2007. It ran for over 150 days at Ernakulam Kanoos theater.

References

1. "First Look: Mammootty's Venicile Vyapari - Rediff.com". m.rediff.com. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
2. "6 Times When A Mammootty Movie Emerged As The Top Grosser Of A Year!". www.filmibeat.com. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
3. ^ "Top 10 grossers". Sify. 31 December 2008.
4. Pillai, Shreedhar (28 December 2007). "The year that was". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
5. "Malayalam". The Hindu. 29 December 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
6. "Mammootty and director Shafi team up again". The New Indian Express. 23 July 2009.
7. "The man behind Mammootty's Mayavi". Rediff.com. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
8. "The hit maker is back". The New Indian Express. 2 November 2011.
9. "മെഗാസ്റ്റാര്‍ പദവിയിലിരിക്കുന്ന മമ്മൂക്കയ്ക്ക് ഇത് ഇഷ്ടമാകുമോ എന്നതായിരുന്നു പേടി". Mathrubhumi. 23 July 2009.
10. "First Look: Mammootty's Venicile Vyapari". Rediff.com. 6 September 2011.
11. Meghna George (15 December 2009). "It's raining Malayalam films this Christmas". Rediff.com.
12. "'Maayavi' creates magic!". Sify. 10 February 2007. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
13. "Mayavi continues to rule- News". IndiaGlitz. 24 March 2007. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
14. "Mayavi celebrates hundred days - Malayalam News". IndiaGlitz.com. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
15. "rediff.com: 2007's Top Malayalam hits so far". Rediff.com. Retrieved 5 February 2021.

External links

• Mayavi at IMDb

• 2007 films
• 2000s Malayalam-language films
• 2007 action films
• Malayalam films remade in other languages
• Films shot in Kochi
• Films directed by Shafi
• Indian action comedy films