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Muni is an Indian horror comedy film series created and directed by Raghava Lawrence who also appeared in lead roles in all the films. The first film is Muni (2007) and the second is Muni 2: Kanchana (2011) with the third installment of the franchise titled Muni 3: Kanchana 2: Ganga (2015). The latest movie, the fourth instalment is Muni 4: Kanchana 3 (2019). and stars Raghava Lawrence and Kovai Sarala with Rajkiran, Sarathkumar, Devadarshini, Sriman, Vedhika, Vinu Chakravarthy, Raai Laxmi, Nithya Menon, Taapsee, Renuka, Oviya, Nikki Tamboli, Alexandra Ri Djavi. All films were successful at the box office, continuing the trend of the comedy-horror genre in Tamil cinema that began with Chandramukhi (2005).

Muni
Series logo
Directed by	Raghava Lawrence
Written by	Dialogues: Raghava Lawrence (Kanchana, Kanchana 2, Kanchana 3) Ramesh Khanna (Muni)
Screenplay by	Raghava Lawrence
Story by	Raghava Lawrence
Produced by	Saran (Muni) Raghava Lawrence (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) Kalanidhi Maran (Kanchana 3)
Starring	Raghava Lawrence Kovai Sarala Rajkiran Sarathkumar Devadarshini Sriman Vedhika Vinu Chakravarthy Raai Laxmi Nithya Menon Taapsee Renuka Oviya Nikki Tamboli Ri Djavi Alexandra
Cinematography	K. V. Guhan (Muni) Vetri E. Krishnasamy (Kanchana) R. B. Gurudev Rajavel Olhiveeran (Kanchana 2) Vetri Sarvesh Murari (Kanchana 3)
Edited by	Suresh Urs (Muni) Kishore Te. (Kanchana, Kanchana 2)
Music by	Original Songs: Bharadwaj (Muni) S. Thaman (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) Leon James (Kanchana 2) C. Sathya (Kanchana 2) Ashwamithra (Kanchana 2) Doo Paa Doo (Kanchana 3) Background Score: Sangeetharajan (Muni) S. Thaman (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) Doo Paa Doo (Kanchana 3)
Production companies	Gemini Productions (Muni) Raghavendra Productions (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) Sun Pictures (Kanchana 3)
Distributed by	Tamil: Gemini Productions (Muni) Sri Thenandal Films (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) Sun Pictures (Kanchana 2, Kanchana 3)
Release dates	1: 9 March 2007 (2007-03-09) 2 : 22 July 2011 (2011-07-22) 3 : 17 April 2015 (2015-04-17) 4 : 19 April 2019 (2019-04-19)
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹ 49 crore (see release and revenue below)
Box office	₹ 333 crore (see release and revenue below)

All four films revolve around the same plot of a coward who gets possessed by a ghost to take revenge on the people who killed them, rest of the films shows how he takes revenge. Raghava Lawrence and Kovai Sarala are the only actors to appear in every installment of the series.

Synopsis

Muni (2007)

A young man, along with his wife and his parents, migrates to Chennai where he gets possessed by the spirit of a kind-hearted person who was murdered by an ambitious and corrupt political leader.

Muni 2:Kanchana

When three spirits possess a timid young man and start making him act like a woman, his mother consults an exorcist who unearths a heartbreaking tale of societal injustice, murder and vengeance.

Muni 3: Kanchana 2

A cameraman is petrified of ghosts but obliges when his director proposes a show on ghosts to revive their TV channel. However, strange things happen when they start working on the show.

Muni 4: Kanchana 3

Raghava is a young man who lives happily with his family but is scared of ghosts. When he visits Coimbatore with his family, he is possessed by a vengeful ghost with a sinister past.

Films

Film	Release date	Director	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producer(s)
Muni	9 March 2007	Raghava Lawrence	Raghava Lawrence	Raghava Lawrence	Saran
Muni:2 Kanchana	22 July 2011			Raghava Lawrence
Muni:3 Kanchana 2	17 April 2015			Raghava Lawrence
Muni:4 Kanchana 3	19 April 2019			Raghava Lawrence	Kalanithi Maran, Raghava Lawrence

Muni (2007)

The first installment of the series, based on fictional incidents. A young man, along with his wife and his parents, migrates to Chennai where he gets possessed by the spirit of a kind-hearted person who was murdered by an ambitious and corrupt political leader. Muni was released on 9 March 2007 and gained positive response.[1] It earned ₹15 crore against a budget of ₹4 crore.[2]

Kanchana

After the success of Muni Raghava and Sarala Re-unite once again for sequel. The film was titled as Muni 2: Kanchana and also second installment in this series.[3] The film was released on 22 July 2011 worldwide. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman.[4] Kanchana opened to mostly positive reviews.[5] The film grossed ₹68 crore worldwide[6] becoming the second highest grossing Tamil film of 2011.

Kanchana 2

A stand-alone sequel, Muni 3: Kanchana 2, was commissioned after the success of the previous films and was also directed by Raghava.[7] It stars Raghava, Taapsee and Sarala in lead roles.[8] And also the third installment in this series. It was released on 17 April 2015 in around 750 screens worldwide alongside Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani. The Telugu version titled Ganga[9] was released later on 1 May 2015 in around 550 screens.[10][11] Film received positive response from audience.[12] Proving to be similarly successful to the first entry in the series, the film emerged as a huge box office success, becoming the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2015.[13][14][15]

Kanchana 3

The fourth installment in this series, written and directed by Raghava.[16] The film was titled as Naagaa,[17] then changed to Muni 4: Kanchana 3, produced by Sun Pictures.[18] The film stars Raghava in a dual role with Oviya, Vedhika, Nikki Tamboli,[19] Keerthi Pandian and Ri Djavi Alexandra. While Kovai Sarala, Soori, Tarun Arora, and Kabir Duhan Singh play supporting roles. Kanchana 3 was released on Good Friday in 2019.[20] The film received mixed reviews from audiences, comparisons of Kanchana 1 and 2.[21][22] It earned ₹130 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹20 crore, becoming one of the fourth highest grossing Tamil film of 2019.[23]

Future films

Film	Release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producer(s)	Status
Durga	August 2022	TBA			Raghava Lawrence	Filming[24]
Muni 5: Kanchana 4	April 2023	Raghava Lawrence			TBA	Announced[citation needed]

Durga (2022)

A spin-off, Durga ,was commissioned after the success of the previous film and directed by renowned stunt masters Anbarivu. It is a directional debut for the twins. The film stars Raghava Lawrence, Kovai Sarala, Sriman and Devadarshini in lead roles. The film will release theatrically worldwide in August 2022.[24]

Recurring cast and characters

This table lists the main characters who appear in the Muni film series.

Actors	Films
	Muni	Muni 2: Kanchana	Muni:3 Kanchana 2	Muni:4 Kanchana 3	Muni:5 Kanchana 4
Raghava Lawrence	Ganesh	Raghava	Raghava/Shiva	Raghava/Kaali	Raghava
Kovai Sarala	Sarala, Raghava's mother
Vedhika	Priya			Priya
Raai Laxmi		Priya			TBA
ViroshanSKA					TBA
Sriman		Prasad	Dr. Prasad	Prasad
Devadarshini		Kamakshi
Yuvasri Lakshmi				Pappa
Renuka			Nandini's sister-in-law
Taapsee Pannu			Nandini		TBA
Nithya Menen			Ganga
Mayilsamy		fake priest	Watchman		TBA

Additional crew and production details

Occupation	Film
	Muni (2007)	Muni 2: Kanchana (2011)	Muni:3 Kanchana 2 (2015)	Muni:4 Kanchana 3 (2019)
Director	Raghava Lawrence
Producer(s)	Saran	Raghava Lawrence		Kalanithi Maran Raghava Lawrence
Story and Screenplay Writer	Raghava Lawrence
Dialogue writer(s)	Ramesh Khanna	Raghava Lawrence
Song Composer(s)	Bharadwaj	S. Thaman	S. Thaman C. Sathya Aswamithra Leon James	Doo Paa Doo
Background Score	Sangeetharajan	S. Thaman
Director of photography	K. V. Guhan	Vetri, E. Krishnasamy	Rajavel Oliveeran, R. B. Gurudev	Vetri, Sarvesh Murari
Editor(s)	Suresh Urs	Kishore Te.		Ruben
Art Director(s)	Mohana Mahendran	Jana
stunt co-ordinator	Super Subbarayan			Super Subbarayan
Production Companies	Gemini Productions	Sri Thenandal Films, Raghavendra Productions	Raghavendra Productions	Sun Pictures, Raghavendra Productions
Distributing company	Gemini Productions	Sun Pictures	Sun Pictures, Sri Thenandal Films	Sun Pictures, Wellborn International (Kerala)
Running Time	153 minutes	170 minutes	164 minutes	166 minutes

Release and Revenue

Box office performance

The franchise has been notable for its profit, with Muni[2] and its follow-up having earned a combined profit of ₹333.7 crore, according to IBtimes.[25]

Film	Release date	Budget	Box office revenue	Ref.
Muni	9 March 2007	₹4 crore (US$500,000)	₹15 crore (US$1.9 million)	[2]
Muni 2: Kanchana	22 July 2011	₹7 crore (US$880,000)	₹68 crore (US$8.5 million)	[6]
Muni:3 Kanchana 2	17 April 2015	₹18 crore (US$2.3 million)	₹120 crore (US$15 million)	[26]
Muni:4 Kanchana 3	19 April 2019	₹20 crore (US$2.5 million)	₹130 crore (US$16 million)	[25]
Total		₹49 crore (US$6.1 million) (four films)	₹333 crore (US$42 million) (four films)

Remakes

Year	Film	Language	Cast	Notes	Ref.
2012	Kalpana	Kannada	Upendra, Raai Laxmi, Saikumar, Babu Antony	Remake of Kanchana	[27]
2016	Maya	Sinhalese	Ranjan Ramanayake, Pubudu Chathuranga, Giriraj Kaushalya, Nilmini Kottegoda and Upeksha Swarnamali		[28]
2017	Tar Tay Gyi	Burmese	Nay Toe and Shwe Thamee		[29]
	Mayabini	Bengali	Amit Hasan		[citation needed]
2020	Laxmii	Hindi	Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Rajesh Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar and Sharad Kelkar		[30][31]
2016	Kalpana 2	Kannada	Upendra, Priyamani and Avantika Shetty	Remake of Kanchana 2	[32]

Legacy

Along with Chandramukhi (2005), Muni became a trendsetter for horror comedy films. The success of the film inspired several other horror comedy films including the Aranmanai film series (2014) and Darling (2015).[33][34][35]

References

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