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 installment in the Muni (film series). The film stars Lawrence alongside Sarathkumar, Kovai Sarala and Lakshmi Rai while Devadarshini and Sriman play supporting roles.
The film revolves around Raghava, who is scared to venture outside gets possessed by a ghost and starts behaving weirdly. The film's cinematography and editing was 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.The Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) gave the film an "A" Certificate for "Violence" and "Horror".
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. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film became a commercial success in both languages. The film has been remade several times including – in Kannada as Kalpana, in Sinhala Sri Lanka as Maya, in Bengali Bangladesh as Mayabini, and in Hindi as Laxmii; Lawrence acted as screenwriter on Kalpana, while directing and co-writing Laxmii.
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 wickets 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 conmen 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.