Manal Naharam

Plot

Manal Naharam explores the lives and predicaments experienced by people who go from India to the Arab countries for better dream and fortunes, leaving behind their trusted kith and kin. The story takes place in Dubai. The movie also deals with friendship as well as romance.

Summary

Mansur (Prajin), a sales commission agent in Dubai is in love with Poornima (Tanishka), a waitress at a restaurant. Anand (Gautham) is in search of a job, is loved by Nisha (Varuna Shetty), the daughter of business tycoon Ibrahim Rabbani (Shankar) and James (Jaise Jose), the third person in the group, gets into trouble that complicates things for all. The climax reveals whether the love succeeds all odds.

Cast

Development

Shankar, who had a good time in Tamil language films in 80's, was impressed by the story line given by his friend Muraliraman from Dubai, which was also liked by M.I.Vasanthkumar, his another buddy, who wrote the screenplay as well as decided to produce the film. A talent hunt was organized for the audition and the actors were selected.

Casting

Gautham, who has done the lead role in Malayalam language film Yakshiyum Njanum directed by Vinayan and Prajin Padmanabhan, who has done smaller roles in many films and lead role in Tamil language film Thee Kulikkum Pachchai Maram was selected after audition to do the lead roles. Later Tejaswini Prakash, a top actress from Kannada language films who has done Savi Savi Nenapu and the unreleased Asokavana starring Mohan, was signed up as leading lady along with newcomer Varuna Shetty, Narayana Kannan from Dubai, supported by actors like Jaise Jose and Jijesh Menon. Now Varuna Shetty has signed Mohanlal' s Rasam as well. Renil Gowtham, the music director of Shankar' s directorial debut Virus was signed for music department, while J.Sreedhar, who has done films like Challenge 2 was assigned the cinematography.

Filming

The preliminary schedule of the film took place in Chennai in March 2013, before the crew left for Dubai as the major story unfolds in Dubai, with most part of the film being shot there. "The 50-day shooting was very tough and challenging", said Shankar to a daily.

Newcomers

Shankar has introduced a galaxy of actors to Tamil with Manal Naharam. They are...

This is also the Tamil debut for Gautham, Jaise Jose, Tejaswini Prakash and Varuna Shetty.

Audio Launch

Manal Naharam 's audio was launched on 14 July at RKV Studios, Chennai attended by the cast of Manal Naharam and the team of Oru Thalai Ragam as they celebrated the union of 34 years after the cult film's release. The team of Oru Thalai Ragam film, Roopa, Shankar, Thyagu, Kailash, cameraman Rajasekhar (Rajasekhar-Robert) and T. Rajendar spoke on the occasion. The film's first look was released in the Tamil portal behindwoods.com.

Soundtrack

The music of the film was released on 14 July 2014.

Film Reviews

Manal Naharam released with high positive reviews.

Namma Tamil Cinema appreciated the film saying "Manal Naharam will truly fills joy for cine-goers". The film was appreciated for the content and execution. The gulf law, the Indians in gulf countries and the touching climax stands out as per Namma Tamil Cinema portal. They appreciated the directorial skill of Oru Thalai Raagam Shankar for extracting good performance from the actors and mentioned Vinod Kumar (VK)'s performance as outstanding.

South Indian Crime Point Web TV also lauded the commendable effort of director Shankar and summed up as "Manal Naharam shows the real life of Indians in gulf countries" and mentioned the performance of actors especially Prajin, Thanishka and Vinod Kumar (VK). The technical side of the film; music, cinematography and editing was also lauded.

Screen 4 Screen portal appreciated the film for its content mentioning as "Manal Naharam is a refreshing change for the audience who are regularly watching our native films which comes up with same subject again and again". They lauded the director for presenting the film in a real touching manner of life dedicated to the Indians in Gulf. The performance of actors especially Vinod Kumar (VK), Thanishka, Varuna Shetty and Shankar was appreciated and the technical side of the film, like cinematography was lauded. The unusual climax, far from regular Cliché too was mentioned by the portal.

Maalai Malar gave 71 marks out of 100 for Manal Naharam appreciating the film as attractive. They lauded director Shankar's effort in presenting the film in a touching manner. The technical side of the film, especially songs, cinematography, background score and dialogues were appreciated by the daily. Leading ladies Thanishka and Varuna Shetty along with villain actor Vinod Kumar (VK) and Prajin' s performance was lauded.

Indian Express appreciated Shankar’s debut directorial Tamil film Manal Nagaram about the lives of three migrant workers, their dreams, aspirations, sorrows and heart breaks and of course the obstructions that come in the way. They lauded the screenplay of the film and its narrative style, summing up as " With it’s fresh screenplay, Manal Nagaram is an impressive tamil directorial debut by Shankar."

Deccan Chronicle appreciated director Shankar for the commendable job in delivering a solid script and worthy execution by infusing a verisimilitude by portraying the trials and tribulations of three men stranded and attempting to make a life in Dubai, thereby establishing an instant rapport with the audience.