Mafia: Chapter 1

Mafia: Chapter 1, known simply as Mafia,[1] is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language action crime film directed by Karthick Naren and produced by Allirajah Subaskaran under the banner of Lyca Productions. The film starring Arun Vijay and Priya Bhavani Shankar in leading roles with Prasanna playing the antagonist.[2][3] The film's music composed by Jakes Bejoy, while cinematography and editing are handled by Gokul Benoy and Sreejith Sarang respectively.[4] Filming was completed on 29 August 2019, and the film was released on 21 February 2020. The film was one of the highest grossing tamil movie of 2020.

Mafia: Chapter 1
Directed byKarthick Naren
Produced byAllirajah Subaskaran
StarringArun Vijay
Prasanna
Priya Bhavani Shankar
Music byJakes Bejoy
CinematographyGokul Benoy
Edited bySreejith Sarang
Production
company
Distributed byLyca Productions
Release date
  • 21 February 2020 (2020-02-21)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Plot

The movie starts off with a hotel, where a gunshot was heard and immediately the police arrived. It stops there and immediately shifts to the main lead, Aryan. Aryan is a Narcotics Control Bureau Officer who works alongside his batchmates Sathya and Varun. Aryan lost his twin Brother, Dillip, to drugs, therefore he becomes a Narcotics Officer and his main aim is to eradicate all drug groups and drug lords, known as the ‘Snake’s Den’. Alongside his team are Selvam, his team supervisor and Mugilan, a social activist who is also Aryan's neighbour. Whilst Aryan arrives home after catching two culprits that were into drugs, he receives news that Selvam has died due to a gunshot at the head. Previously, Selvam had concluded the guy behind this, but did not reveal so the culprit wouldn't know about this. Aryan and Sathya investigate around the house, and Aryan concludes that there is a big drug lord behind the murder, and they must find evidence of that.

Mugilan is also targeted by the drug lord and his bodyguard and is killed. Before his death, he puts information about the drug lord in a USB stick, attached to his dog, Pogo's collar and sends Aryan a message. Aryan tracks Pogo down with the tracking chip installed in his collar and sees the information. The drug lord is apparently Diwakar Kumaran (DK) who is a big technology entrepreneur and a philanthropist. Mugilan suspects his early source of income was with links of international drug cartels. DK and his brother/bodyguard Rudra have links with politicians, so their business cannot be derailed. Knowing this Mugilan and Selvam decides to investigate a place thought to be Diwakar’s secret hideout. Through this they were both caught.

Aryan later moved on to start a shootout at the place, and finally concludes Diwakar’s role in drug dealing. DK, knowing what will happen, abducts Aryan’s family and asks Aryan to meet his doom at a warehouse. With a plan, Aryan and his team, tries foiling all of DK’s plan in one night. After an interesting cat-and-mouse chase, Aryan finally manages to catch DK, who kills himself to prevent going into custody. This is where the start of the movie comes in. Before his death, DK tells Aryan that he is not the main drug lord. Then later it is followed by a twist that his own twin brother Dilip aka Dexter is the main drug Lord, who swears revenge on Aryan, since Diwakar and Dilip escaped a police Attack and found a bounty to start their drug businesses and Dilip was thought to be dead. The story then leads to Mafia: Chapter 2.

Cast
  • Arun Vijay as Aryan (the Protagonist), Narcotics Control Bureau Officer and Dilip alias of Dexter whist his code name being Cobra (the Main Antagonist)
  • Prasanna as Diwakar Kumaran aka DK whist his codename being Viper
  • Priya Bhavani Shankar as Sathya, Narcotic Central Bureau Officer and Aryan's teammate and love interest
  • Thalaivasal Vijay as Mugilan, Aryan's neighbor and social activist
  • Bharath Reddy as Inspector Naveen
  • Bala Hassan as Varun, Narcotic Central Bureau Officer, and Aryan's teammate
  • Aroul D. Shankar as Selvam, Narcotic Central Bureau and head of Aryan's team
  • Mathew Varghese as Aryan's father
  • Rekha Suresh as Aryan's mother
  • Inder Kumar as Rudra, DK's brother
  • Dipshi Blessy as Sowmya

Production

Principal photography began on 6 July 2019, in Chennai.[5] Arun Vijay and Prasanna shot for some action sequences in Thailand.[6] The shooting of the film was completed in 35 days in a single stretch.[7] On 1 October 2019, Prasanna completed his dubbing.[8] On 18 November 2019, Arun Vijay completed his dubbing.[9]

Soundtrack

The film's music is composed by Jakes Bejoy.[10]

On 8 February 2020, Mafia released its first video song, "Vedan Vendaacho".

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Vedan Vendaacho"VivekVijay Prakash, Sathyaprakash D, ST TFC3:45
2."Beast In The House"Vivek, Travis A. KingSunitha Sarathy, Travis A. King3:56

Release

Marketing

On 2 July 2019 the movie had a preliminary release.[11] On 16 September 2019,[12] the official teaser was released.[13] On 7 December 2019, a second teaser was launched at Darbar audio launch.[14] And on 9 December 2019, the same teaser was released on official Lyca Productions YouTube channel.[15] The movie was released on 21 February 2020.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from audience as well as critics.[16] Giving the film a 3/5 rating, Thinkal Menon from The Times of India praised the performances and wrote "Mafia would appeal to fans of action movies, especially those which have stylish narcotics backdrop."[17] Behindwoods gave it 2.75 stars out of 5, calling it "an action flick that is majorly uplifted by the stylish treatment and a smart climax for the sequel."[18] Indiaglitz similarly gave it 2.75/5 and praised the lead actors, action sequences and technical aspects while criticizing the predictability of several scenes. Nevertheless, the reviewer felt the film was "an interesting start for an action franchise."[19]Firstpost rated 3 out of 5 stars stating "On the whole Mafia: Chapter I is stylishly cut but has very little substance. But the climax has kindled the expectation meter for Chapter II. In fact, just for the seven minute climax surprise twist we are going with a higher rating than it would have deserved."[20]The Hindu stated "Arun Vijay and Prasanna struggle hard to keep the tension alive in an adequate thriller that abuses its own substance".[21]Deccan Chronicle rated 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "The problem with 'Mafia' is that it makes plenty of noise but has little substance".[22]The Indian Express rated 2 out of 5 stars stating "The biggest problem is that Mafia: Chapter 1 is so randomly written".[23]The News Minute rated 2 out of 5 stars stating "Karthick falls back on voiceovers and an excessive use of English in the dialogues to keep up the sophisticated tone, but the writing falls flat".[24]Hindustan Times stated "Mafia may come across as slightly over stylised for a story set in Chennai and involving officers of the Narcotics Control Bureau, but once you get used to the world, you’re in for a surprise".[25]Sify rated 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "All style and no substance".[26] Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "The single-minded pursuit of surface style kills the movie. The rhythms are flat. The scenes play like summaries that nobody bothered to shape into… a “scene”. There’s a lot of dead air."[27]

References
  1. Arun Vijay is thrilled about Mafia | Tamil Movie News - Times of India
  2. Lakshmi, V. "Mafia will be a high-octane gangster drama: Karthick Naren". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  3. Subramanian, Anupama (3 July 2019). "Mafia not usual North Chennai story". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  4. "Mafia first look: Arun Vijay looks dapper in Karthick Naren's next". The Indian Express. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  5. "Arun Vijay and Karthick Naren's Mafia kicks off today". The Times of India. 6 July 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. "Arun Vijay and Prasanna off to Thailand for Mafia shoot". The Times of India. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  7. "Shooting of Karthick Naren's Mafia wrapped up". Cinema Express. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  8. "Prasanna completes dubbing for Mafia". The Times of India. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. "Arun Vijay is thrilled about Mafia". The Times of India. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  10. "Birthday Special: Arun Vijay's upcoming movies which will leave you spellbound - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  11. "Mafia first look: Arun Vijay looks dapper in Karthick Naren's next". The Indian Express. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  12. "The release date of Mafia's teaser is here". The Times of India. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. "Mafia teaser out: Arun Vijay and Prasanna film will remind you of Vikram Vedha". India Today. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. "Arun Vijay is happy that Mafia teaser 2 was launched at Darbar audio launch". The Times of India. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  15. "Arun Vijay's Mafia teaser 2 out". The Times of India. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  16. Johnson, David (21 February 2020). "Mafia movie review and ratings by audience: Live update". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  17. "Mafia: Chapter 1 Movie Review : The way the film ends makes us eagerly wait for the next chapter". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  18. "Mafia (aka) Maafia review". Behindwoods.
  19. "Mafia Chapter 1 - An interesting start for an action franchise!". Indiaglitz.com. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  20. "Mafia: Chapter I movie review — Arun Vijay's thriller is an uber-stylish film with a wafer-thin plot". Firstpost. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  21. "'Mafia: Chapter 1' movie review: A wonderfully ordinary movie with a great presentation". The Hindu. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  22. "Mafia Chapter 1 review: Game of chess between cop and drug kingpin". Deccan Chronicle. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  23. "Mafia movie review: Stylish but hollow gangster drama". The Indian Express. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  24. "'Mafia: Chapter 1' review: Style, swag and no substance". The News Minute. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  25. "Mafia movie review: Karthick Naren's film is a smart, ultra-stylized gangster drama". Hindustan Times. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  26. "Mafia review: All style and no substance". Sify. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  27. "Karthick Naren's Mafia: Chapter 1, Starring Arun Vijay, Mistakes Slo-Mo For Style". FilmCompanion. 4 March 2020.


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