Mugavaree is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language musicalromantic drama film written and directed by V. Z. Durai and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film features Ajith Kumar in the lead role as a struggling musician with Jyothika, with Raghuvaran, Vivek, Manivannan, and K. Vishwanath playing supporting roles. It was Ajith Kumar's first film of the new 2000s millennium. The music is composed by Deva, song lyrics were written by Vairamuthu, whilst the film featured award-winning cinematography by P. C. Sriram. The story revolves around the conflicting emotions of ambition, love and responsibility that the protagonist, Sridhar, played by Ajith Kumar, goes through in his quest to become a successful music composer. The film opened in February 2000 to positive critical acclaim and become a successful venture.
Plot
Sridhar is from a middle-class family headed by his father. Shiva is Sridhar's elder brother and the breadwinner for the family, consisting of his wife Shantha and sister. Sridhar, upon completion of his graduation, aspires to become a music director and tries hard to secure a chance in movies, but all his efforts go in vain. Sridhar's search for a chance continues for eight years. Despite that, his family members support him very well and encourage him whenever he feels dejected. Sridhar meets and befriends Viji Chandrasekhar. Viji also likes Sridhar and his aspiration. Slowly, love blossoms between them. Viji gets introduced to Sridhar's family, and they too like her. However, Sridhar has plans of marrying her only after getting his first break in music. Viji also understands Sridhar and supports him. A CD shop owner is Sridhar's neighbor, and he also encourages him. Sridhar gets an opportunity to compose music for a film. He feels extremely happy and goes for recording. Unfortunately on the same day, the producer meets with an accident, and as he feels it as an inauspicious sign, the movie is dropped. Viji's younger sister Sudha gets a good marriage alliance, but the groom's family finds it odd upon seeing Viji being unmarried. Viji's father requests Sridhar and Viji to get married so that it does not stop his younger daughter's wedding proposal. Viji's father asks Sridhar to leave away his dream of becoming a music director as he has been already trying hard for years. He also offers him a job so that he can marry Viji. However, Sridhar refuses to let go his dream. He is ready to sacrifice his love for the sake of his ambition. He requests Viji to marry someone else as he cannot give up his passion for music. One day, Shiva has a heart attack and is admitted to the hospital. The doctors say that Shiva has heart problems and needs rest. Sridhar is shocked to see his brother's condition. As Shiva was the only income earner in the family, now Shantha and Preitha decide to take up some jobs to help earn money for the family. Sridhar worries seeing that, though he also feels proud about the love and affection shown by his family members towards him, as no one asked him to forego his ambition and take up some job despite this condition. However, Sridhar decides to go for a job so he could ease his family's financial burden. He informs this and leaves for an interview. Initially the movie had a climax, where it is shown that Sridhar gives up his ambition and starts working. Also, Viji is also married to someone else, whereby Sridhar lost both his love and his passion. Later on, the climax was changed, and is shown that after a few years, Sridhar secures a chance to compose music and he becomes a leading music composer. Also he marries Viji.
The film director, V. Z. Durai, revealed that he had approached S. S. Chakravarthy to make the film with Ajith Kumar after failing to get noticed for a long period, getting rejected by four producers for the script. Chakravarthy was supportive and maintained a close link with the film from shoot til post-production. Prior to the release of the film, Ajith Kumar, who has happy with the final product, gifted a car to the director. The success of the film led to the producer and the director signing another film together, Kadhal Sadugudu, featuring Vikram and Priyanka Trivedi.
Release
The film opened to positive reviews from critics with a reviewer citing that "Durai's presentation and supporting characters lack the depth necessary to make this a commercially successful venture". Rediff.com also gave the film a positive review citing that the real "winners" are "Ajith, the actor, and P. C. Sriram, the cinematographer". The critic claimed that Ajith Kumar "brilliantly portrays the vulnerable and sad Sridhar". A third reviewer also praised the film claiming that Ajith Kumar "comes up with another good performance, conveying the hopes and frustrations of a struggling music director well", whilst Jyothika "looks cute and also proves her acting credentials" and Raghuvaran is "dignified as usual". The film went on to win the second prize for Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film, whilst Brindha won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Choreographer for her work in the film's songs. The film was later dubbed and released in Telugu as Chirunama.
Soundtrack
The film's score and chart-topping soundtrack was composed by Deva, with lyrics written by Vairamuthu. "Oh... Nenje" is based on "Get Down " by the Backstreet Boys, "Poo Virinjachu" is based on "That Thing You Do" from the film of the same name, and "Keechu Kiliye" is based on "Enemies" by Dr. Alban.
