N. Maharajan

N. Maharajan
Born
Tamil Nadu, India
OccupationFilm director
Years active2000–2004

N. Maharajan is an Indian film director who directed Tamil and Hindi films. He made his debut with Vallarasu and directed other films Anjaneya and Arasatchi. He had provided scripts for Hindi films Zor and Champion

Career

Maharajan made his directorial debut with Vallarasu starring Vijayakanth. A scene shot was of Vijayakant and Devayani at a jewellery shop in T.Nagar in Chennai. The song was picturised near Pollachi and with the lead pair there were about 100 dancers. And choreographing the dance was dance master Haridas. A lavish set was erected at the A.V.M. Studios where a stunt scene was picturised between Vijayakant and Richard. Some stunt scenes were picturised between Vijayakant and Richard. Some stunt artistes who played as Richard's henchmen, also participated in the shot. Apart from Chennai, shooting locations were at New Delhi and Kulu Manali.[1] The film receive positive reviews and became a box office success.[2][3] The success of film led Maharajan to direct Narasimha which he later opted out.[4]

Maharajan later remade Vallarasu in Hindi with Sunny Deol. His next directorial was Anjaneya. The leading female role was eventually handed to Meera Jasmine even though Reemma Sen was also approached earlier for the film.[5] The film featured Ajith Kumar in his first role as a police officer, before further appearances in Kireedam, Aegan, Mankatha and Yennai Arindhaal.[6] The film was shot within 47 days, with Ajith reportedly working extra time to complete scenes. Producers downplayed any publicity for the film, releasing the audio with little fanfare and not releasing a teaser trailer. The film received negative reviews with the critic from The Hindu claiming that "the lack of consistency in the treatment affects the film no end", criticizing Maharajan's direction. There were rumours that Ajith didn't allow him to direct the second half properly. Too much intervention from Ajith led to a sub-standard product. And Maharajan could never recover back from the disaster.[7][8]

Meanwhile, Maharajan announced his next project Arasatchi with Arjun playing the lead role. Miss Universe 2000 Lara Dutta made her acting debut in Tamil with this film.[9] The film boasts of 14 villains played by Raghuvaran, Karan, Anandraj, Nasser, Nambiar, Ponnambalam, Delhi Ganesh, Mansur Alikhan, Devan, Rajan P Dev and Manivannan among others. Uma, Abitha, Vindhya and P Vasu play crucial roles in the film.[citation needed]

The filming was held at Le Royal Meridian Hotel, Chennai and the songs were picturised at locations in London, New Zealand and Canada.[10]

The movie was completed in 2003 but got delayed due to financial problems and finally released in 2004,[11] in between production delays Maharajan finished Anjaneya with Ajith.

Before release, poster featuring tagline "When Justice Fails" created controversy which caused a lawyer to file a case citing that the film would portray lawyers in bad light. After one week, case was finally won.[12][13]

Filmography

As director and writer

Year Title Credited as Language Notes
Director Writer
1997 Zor No Story, screenplay Hindi
2000 Vallarasu Yes Yes Tamil
Snegithiye No Dialogues
2001 Indian Yes Yes Hindi
2002 Kranti No Story
2003 Anjaneya Yes Yes Tamil
2004 Arasatchi Yes Yes

References

  1. ^ "Vallarasu". Cinematoday.itgo.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Vallarasu". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 31 May 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. ^ "The Hindu : Film Review: Vallarasu". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Tamil Cinema 2000". cinematoday2itgo. 19 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Meera Jasmine confirmed! 'Anchaneya's confusions end". www.ajithkumar.fr.fm. 28 June 2003. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  6. ^ "Variety fare for Deepavali". The Hindu. 24 October 2003. Archived from the original on 3 January 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  7. ^ "Anjaneya". The Hindu. 7 November 2003. Archived from the original on 3 July 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  8. ^ HostOnNet.com. "BizHat.com - Anjaneya Review. Ajith, Meera Jasmine, Raghuvaran, Anu Hassan, Manivannan". Movies.bizhat.com. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  9. ^ "The Hindu : A long wait". hindu.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 20 September 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Tamil Cinema News | Tamil Movie Reviews | Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil". Archived from the original on 25 October 2004.
  12. ^ "Tamil Cinema News | Tamil Movie Reviews | Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil". Archived from the original on 24 October 2004.
  13. ^ "Tamil Cinema News | Tamil Movie Reviews | Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil". Archived from the original on 2 November 2004.