Godavari at 10:05, 2 April 2026

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{{Short description|2017 Indian film by ARK Saravan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| image = Maragadha Naanayam.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = ARK Saravan
| writer = ARK Saravan
| producer = G. Dillibabu
| starring = [[Aadhi Pinisetty|Aadhi]]<br />[[Nikki Galrani]]
| cinematography = P. V. Shankar
| editing = [[Prasanna GK]]
| music = [[Dhibu Ninan Thomas]]
| studio = Axess Film Factory
| released = {{Film date|2017|06|16|df=yes}}
| runtime = 119 minutes
| country = India
| language = Tamil
| gross = 
}}
'''''Maragadha Naanayam''''' ({{translation|Emerald Coin}}) is a 2017 Indian [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-language [[fantasy comedy]] film written and directed by ARK Saravan in his directorial debut. The film stars [[Aadhi Pinisetty|Aadhi]] and [[Nikki Galrani]] while [[Anandaraj]], [[Munishkanth]], [[Daniel Annie Pope]], [[Mime Gopi]], and [[Kota Srinivasa Rao]] play supporting roles. It follows two small-time smugglers who seek the eponymous medallion, rumoured to be cursed, but must evade a powerful gang leader.

Filming took place between May and August 2016. The music was composed by first-timer [[Dhibu Ninan Thomas]] with cinematography by PV Shankar and editing by [[Prasanna GK]]. The film was released on 16 June 2017 and became commercially successful. A sequel is in development.

== Plot ==
Senguttuvan and Elango are two small-time crooks who work for a local jewel smuggler named "Nochukuppam" Ramdoss. Senguttavan is attracted to a young woman Chanakya whom he sees every morning at the bus stop, however he never manages to speak to her. Chanakya eventually gets married, but her husband doesn't treat her well and physically and verbally abuses her in public.

Meanwhile, a Chinese businessman comes to the city looking to acquire an antique emerald medallion named "Maragatha Naanayam". This stone was owned by an ancient king named Irumporai and is rumoured to be cursed; anyone who laid their hands on the stone died due to an accident, but no one knows the vehicle. He hires a contractor named John, who has connections with local gangs that could do the job. He offers {{INR}}10,00,00,000 for the contract, but no one is willing to do the job as they are afraid of the curse. Only Senguttavan, who is frustrated at the small-time work he is doing under Ramdoss, is interested in the offer as he wants to involve himself in something big and challenging. Elango convinces Senguttuvan to approach a local priest who could protect them from the curse. The priest hands Senguttavan and Elango a [[lemon]], at which point the ghosts of the 132 people killed by the curse are revealed to them. The priest tells them that if they are going to pursue the stone, they will need to seek the help of one of the ghosts.

Back home, Senguttuvan and Elango complete the ritual to summon one of the ghosts: Elango's uncle Chidambaram. Unfortunately, before the ghost could appear, the duo is interrupted by the news that Ramdoss has died due to a [[heart attack]]. During Ramdoss's burial, the lemon accidentally slips from Senguttavan's pocket and falls on Ramdoss's hand, as a result of which Chidambaram's ghost possesses Ramdoss's body and appears in front of Senguttavan and Elango the following morning, much to their shock. Chidambaram decides to use three recently dead people and possess them with ghosts of three other people killed by the curse to help Senguttavan and Elango in their mission. The first is an old beggar Selvaraj who died in his sleep alongside the road. The second is a man who got decapitated in a freak accident. The third happens to be Chanakya, who hanged herself, unable to handle the abuse she endured at the hands of her husband. Chidambaram successfully brings two of the ghosts to their new bodies, but one of them, a Tamil teacher, has trouble staying in Selvaraj's body and keeps jumping in and out of the corpse.

Senguttuvan, Elango, and the three ghosts, now in their borrowed bodies, pursue the emerald stone. Following an initial lead, they interrogate Pandurangan while posing as the henchmen of a powerful local gang leader "Twinkle" Ramanathan. This leads them to recover an emerald medallion, which turns out to be a fake. However, their methods draw the attention of Ramanathan. He previously rejected the idea of pursuing the stone but changes his mind. After realising that they recovered a replica, the group continues to piece clues together. They find the man who made the fake, who is now on his deathbed. Before he dies, the man gives them clues to who ordered the fake medallion – a local doctor named Krishnan who happens to be one of the men killed by the curse. They find his son, who is also a doctor, and kidnap him. Before they can get him to tell them where the original medallion is, they are caught by Ramanathan's henchmen and are taken to his torture chamber. They manage to escape the torturers and eventually find the original medallion.

Despite Chidambaram's warning, Senguttuvan and Elango touch the stone and are thereby cursed. They arrange for a meeting with John and the Chinese businessman for the exchange, but on the way, they are pursued by the mysterious driverless lorry, revealed by chidambaram that is the vehicle which killed us. John and the Chinese businessman are run over by the lorry and killed. Senguttuvan manages to elude the lorry initially and recover the suitcase full of money. They then run into the Tamil teacher, who is in Selvaraj's body. He tells them that they must return the stone to the King's grave to lift the curse. On the way to the gravesite, they are pursued by both the mystery lorry and Ramanathan's gang, who are hell bent on taking the stone from them. The group manages to elude both and get to the gravesite. Before they can return the stone, Ramanathan's gang shows up. Senguttavan makes a deal with Ramanathan that after he places the stone in the King's grave, he can take it, to which he agrees. Senguttuvan and Elango place the stone in the grave and are therefore released from the curse. Ramanathan has one of his henchmen recover the stone.

Having completed the job, Senguttuvan and Elango bid goodbye to the four ghosts, who release themselves from the occupied bodies. The ghost occupying Chanakya's body allows an emotional Senguttavan to hear at last the voice of Chanakya and also a declaration of love from her. After Senguttavan and Elango bid a tearful farewell to Chidambaram, all four bodies are laid to rest.

During the credits, while Senguttavan and Elango are boarding a bus to return home, they bump into Ramanathan again, who is now on the run. He tells them as his henchman had touched the stone, he and his gang were pursued by the mysterious lorry and his henchman was killed, while he barely managed to escape. But a few minutes later, a pilgrim who had earlier encountered Ramanathan and his gang while they were in pursuit of Senguttavan, Elango and the three ghosts, returns the stone to him, thus activating the curse on Ramanathan and the pilgrim.

== Cast ==
{{colbegin}}
*[[Aadhi Pinisetty|Aadhi]] as Senguttuvan, a small-time crook who works under his friend's boss Ramdoss and wants to find Maragatha Naanayam.
*[[Nikki Galrani]] as Chanakaya. She committed suicide and was taken to put in Chidambaram's friend's soul (Mahendran).
*[[Anandaraj]] as "Twinkle" Ramanathan, the number one smuggler in Chennai who wants to recover Maragatha Naanayam.
*[[Munishkanth]] (Ramdoss) as "Nochukuppam" Ramdoss, the smallest smuggler who drops all big deals because of his health conditions. One day, he dies and comes back for several reasons with a new soul, namely Chidambaram / Thothalavayan.
*[[Daniel Annie Pope]] as Elango, Ramdoss's worker who does all deals and Senguttuvan's childhood friend who helps him find Maragatha Naanayam.
*[[Mime Gopi]] as John, the dealer who deals with all smugglers to take Maragatha Naanayam after collaborating with a Chinese businessman, though they both get killed later.
*[[Kota Srinivasa Rao]] as the priest who helps protect Senguttuvan and Elango from their curse.
*[[M. S. Bhaskar]] as Pandurangan, the man who brings the fake Maragatha Naanayam for over 20 years.
*[[Arunraja Kamaraj]] as the drunken dead body who gets decapitated and took Chidambaram's friend soul to help them. The soul name is Nesamani.
*[[Sangili Murugan]] as the homeless dead body, a panhandler, and Tamizh Aiyaa (ghost).
*Gajaraj as Krishnan, the doctor who protects Maragatha Naanayam for over 20 years.
*Blade Shankar as Krishnan's son, a doctor.
*[[Kaali Venkat]] as Chidambaram (Elango's uncle who is a ghost) and Mahendran (voice).
*[[Brahmanandam]] as Pilot
*Shanthi Mani as Ramdoss's mother
{{colend}}

== Production ==
In May 2016, Axess Film Factory announced that they were making a fantasy-adventure comedy film directed by newcomer Saravan, who had worked an associate director to [[Ramkumar]] during ''[[Mundasupatti]]'' (2014). Saravan initially approached [[G. V. Prakash Kumar]] to play the lead role but his unavailability to immediately start shoot prompted the makers to look for an alternative lead actor.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_CLVWNAnI |title=Comali, Maragatha Naanayam நான் பண்ண வேண்டிய படம்..!- G.V.Prakash breaks 1st time {{!}} Gouri{{!}} Adiyae |date=23 August 2023 |publisher=Galatta Tamil {{!}} கலாட்டா தமிழ் |access-date=4 September 2023 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/A2_CLVWNAnI |archive-date=15 November 2023 |url-status=deviated |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Aadhi Pinisetty|Aadhi]] and [[Nikki Galrani]] were signed on to play the leading roles, marking their second collaboration after ''[[Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka]]'' (2015).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=25 May 2016 |title=This time it's a fantasy film for Aadhi and Nikki Galrani |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/This-time-its-a-fantasy-film-for-Aadhi-and-Nikki-Galrani/articleshow/52416996.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620070645/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/This-time-its-a-fantasy-film-for-Aadhi-and-Nikki-Galrani/articleshow/52416996.cms |archive-date=20 June 2016 |access-date=30 July 2016 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jyothsna |date=25 May 2016 |title=NIKKI GALRANI TEAMS AGAIN WITH... |url=http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-news-16/nikki-galrani-to-team-with-aadhi-for-debutant-saravanans-film.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731115101/http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-news-16/nikki-galrani-to-team-with-aadhi-for-debutant-saravanans-film.html |archive-date=31 July 2016 |access-date=30 July 2016 |website=Behindwoods}}</ref> [[Principal photography]] commenced on 26 May 2016,<ref name=":0" /> and [[Wrap (filmmaking)|wrapped]] by 8 August.<ref>{{Cite Instagram |postid=BI1vtU9Dm2K |user=nikkigalrani |title=Cheers to another wonderful journey😊 #MaragadhaNanayam wraps up ! Gonna miss u all ❤️❤️❤️ Much love😘😘😘 #Memories |author-link=Nikki Galrani |date=8 August 2016 |access-date=23 November 2023 |archive-url=http://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BI1vtU9Dm2K |archive-date=23 November 2023 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Music ==
The film's soundtrack was composed by first-timer [[Dhibu Ninan Thomas]] and the audio rights are with [[Think Music]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=MARAGATHA NAANAYAM - Dhibu Ninan Thomas Tamil Audio Cd (FACTORY SEALED PACK) |url=https://www.audiocdworld.com/product/maragatha-naanayam-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251209013305/https://www.audiocdworld.com/product/maragatha-naanayam-2/ |archive-date=9 Dec 2025 |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=Audio CDs World |language=en}}</ref> The audio was released on 15 March 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 16, 2017 |title=Sivakarthikeyan gets nostalgic at Maragadha Naanayam audio launch |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/regional-movies/sivakarthikeyan-gets-nostalgic-at-maragadha-naanayam-audio-launch/story-PAMz1TdkSjUSzAJeduxyeK.html |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241130144159/https://www.hindustantimes.com/regional-movies/sivakarthikeyan-gets-nostalgic-at-maragadha-naanayam-audio-launch/story-PAMz1TdkSjUSzAJeduxyeK.html |archive-date=November 30, 2024 |access-date=2026-02-17 |website=[[Hindustan Times]] |language=en}}</ref>

{{track listing
| headline = Track listing
| extra_column = Singers
| title1 = Karuppaadu
| extra1 = Arunraja Kamaraj, [[Dhibu Ninan Thomas]]
| lyrics1 = [[Arunraja Kamaraj]]
| length1 = 3:58
| title2 = Nee Kavithaigala
| extra2 = [[Pradeep Kumar (musician)|Pradeep Kumar]]
| lyrics2 = GKB
| length2 = 4:36
| title3 = Aasai
| extra3 = Sharanya Gopinath
| lyrics3 = Muthamil
| length3 = 3:18
| title4 = Kottai Aanda Arasan
| extra4 = [[Arunraja Kamaraj]]
| lyrics4 = Muthamil
| length4 = 4:10
| title5 = Usiredukkum Kootam
| extra5 = [[Kapil Kapilan|Kapil]]
| lyrics5 = GKB
| length5 = 4:11
| total_length = 20:13
}}

== Release ==
''Maragadha Naanayam'' was released in theatres on 16 June 2017,<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=875569391936487424 |user=sri50 |title=Friday -June16 Releases-Tamil :1 #Peechaankai (Thu Release) 2 #MaragadhaNaanayam 3.#Uru 4. #Veruli 5. #Thangaratham.Dubbing #Pulimurugan 1/2 |first=Sreedhar |last=Pillai |access-date=15 January 2026 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20260115001522/https://x.com/sri50/status/875569391936487424 |archive-date=15 January 2026 |url-status=live}}</ref> along with a Telugu-dubbed version ''Marakathamani''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Sruthi |first=Ch Sowmya |date=16 June 2017 |title=‘Marakathamani’ Movie review highlights: The movie is a thorough entertainer |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/marakathamani-movie-review-highlights-the-movie-is-a-thorough-entertainer/articleshow/59175618.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609061257/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/telugu/movies/news/marakathamani-movie-review-highlights-the-movie-is-a-thorough-entertainer/articleshow/59175618.cms |archive-date=9 June 2022 |access-date=5 October 2024 |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> The film had its television premiere on 17 December that year on [[Zee Tamil]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 December 2017 |title=Maragadha Naanayam to premiere on Zee Tamil |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/tamil/maragadha-naanayam-to-premiere-on-zee-tamil/articleshow/62067716.cms |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903200928/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/tamil/maragadha-naanayam-to-premiere-on-zee-tamil/articleshow/62067716.cms |archive-date=3 September 2023 |access-date=20 April 2018 |website=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

== Reception ==
[[Baradwaj Rangan]] wrote for ''[[Film Companion]]'', "The most welcome surprise in ''Maragatha Naanayam'' is that it isn’t just a collection of gags and scares, which is all this genre really needs".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rangan |first=Baradwaj |author-link=Baradwaj Rangan |date=20 June 2017 |title=Maragatha Naanayam Movie Review |url=https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/maragatha-naanayam-movie-review |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528193758/https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/maragatha-naanayam-movie-review |archive-date=28 May 2023 |access-date=2 September 2023 |website=[[Film Companion]]}}</ref> Vishal Menon of ''[[The Hindu]]'' called it a "mostly fun fantasy marred by a slow second half".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Menon |first=Vishal |date=16 June 2017 |title=‘Maragadha Nanayam’ review: welcome to emerald city |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/reviews/maragadha-nanayam-review-welcome-to-emerald-city/article19087448.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603080328/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/reviews/maragadha-nanayam-review-welcome-to-emerald-city/article19087448.ece |archive-date=3 June 2023 |access-date=23 November 2023 |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Reviewing ''Marakathamani'', Ch Sowmya Sruthi of ''[[The Times of India]]'' said, "With the right amount of comedy, speedy narration, gripping plot and well-defined characters, the film scores some good brownie points in the first half that will make you come back for the second. The music and background score too compliment the film's mood and pace".<ref name=":1" />

== Sequel ==
In July 2023, Saravan announced a sequel titled ''Maragadha Naanayam 2''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 July 2023 |title=ARK Saravanan announces sequel to Maragatha Naanayam |url=https://www.dtnext.in/news/cinema/ark-saravanan-announces-sequel-to-maragatha-naanayam-726681 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115184659/https://www.dtnext.in/news/cinema/ark-saravanan-announces-sequel-to-maragatha-naanayam-726681 |archive-date=15 November 2023 |access-date=15 November 2023 |website=[[DT Next]]}}</ref> The sequel is expected to begin filming in February 2026.<ref>{{Cite news |date=16 February 2026 |title=Aadhi-starrer 'Maragadha Naanayam 2' goes on floors with grand pooja ceremony! |url=https://www.dtnext.in/entertainment/cinema/aadhi-starrer-maragadha-naanayam-2-goes-on-floors-with-grand-pooja-ceremony |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260217022704/https://www.dtnext.in/entertainment/cinema/aadhi-starrer-maragadha-naanayam-2-goes-on-floors-with-grand-pooja-ceremony |archive-date=2026-02-17 |access-date=2026-02-17 |work=[[DT Next]] |language=en |agency=[[Indo-Asian News Service|IANS]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}

[[Category:2010s fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:2017 black comedy films]]
[[Category:2017 comedy horror films]]
[[Category:2017 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2017 films]]
[[Category:2017 Indian films]]
[[Category:2017 Tamil-language films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Dhibu Ninan Thomas]]
[[Category:Indian black comedy films]]
[[Category:Indian comedy horror films]]
[[Category:Indian fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language black comedy films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language comedy horror films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language fantasy comedy films]]
[[Category:Tamil-language Indian films]]

Maragadha Naanayam - Revision history

Godavari at 10:05, 2 April 2026