Abhes Balaiya (Suriya), the guide conman thief, is footloose and fancy-free. He and his acolyte Sathyaraj (Sathyan) have no hangups in life. Balaiya’s problems start when he and Sathyaraj land up in a huge villa on the beachfront. It is actually actress Jyothika’s (Jyothika) house. When they realize it, they want to replace what they have taken. As it happens, the actress catches them and creates a huge issue out of it. For their efforts, they are put behind bars. Jyothika does not like Balaiya at all. Balaiya goes out to take revenge on her and kidnap her. Just about when the whole industry and her family tries to trace Jyothika, she understands the real Balaiya. In the end, Balaiya comes to see her and gives her a gift, which is the photographs they took together.
The film's soundtrack, was scored by Devi Sri Prasad, marking his first collaboration with Suriya. Devi Sri Prasad reused the songs "Gongura Ura Thotakada" and "Mass to Pettunkute Madathadi Poddi" (Silakemo) from Venky and reused them as "Kaathadi Pole" and "Tamizh Naattil", respectively.[7] The song "Kadavul Thantha Azhakiya Vaalvu" is based on "Eppudu" from Sontham. The song "Oru Dhevaloga Raani" went on to be reused in Oka Oorilo.
The Hindu wrote how the idea of an actress being kidnapped was present in the film Vaaname Ellai.[8]Behindwoods noted that "Surya has given a superb performance. Jyothika is cute but does her bit of overacting".[9]BizHat wrote "The downside of the film lies in the second half when the action shifts to a room with three characters only. A more innovative way could have made the film more interesting and racy."[10]Chennai Online gave a negative review citing "It's meant to be a total comic entertainer, but the comedy being mostly juvenile, it starts grating on your nerves after a time."[11] Visual Dasan of Kalki wrote a rusted screenplay doesn't need a grand plot. The first requirement is interesting and non-boring incidents. Mayavi is a colorful example of this.[12]Sify wrote "Mayaavi is a jolly fun ride in the first half for its cute concept and silly slapstick comedy. The storyline has been explored earlier by Hollywood directors and later by Ramgopal Varma with Mast and recently in a Malayalam film Immini Nalloral. But the second half lags with too many unwanted sentiments and offers little in the way of surprise in the climax".[13] The film was dubbed in Telugu as Kidnap (2006).[7]
