Maaran is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language political action thriller film written and directed by Karthick Naren, with the screenplay and dialogues were co-written by Suhas-Sharfu and Vivek.

A group of thugs hack and kill Sathyamoorthy for his activities, and shortly after, his wife dies in a hospital after giving birth to a baby girl named Shwetha.

His description of the attacker and his car leads Maaran to suspect Pazhani, but Arjun refuses to investigate as the evidence is circumstantial.

Maaran and his uncle fake the kidnapping of another girl and plant evidence against Pazhani to instigate the police to search his home.

Maaran agrees, but before he can do so, Pazhani and his henchmen arrive and shoots Parthiban to clean up the loose ends on the EVM case.

When Arjun and his police officers arrive, Maaran remembers his father's advice and claims that Pazhani had kidnapped Shweta and that Parthiban had been helping him find her.

[8][9] Lyricist Vivek joined the technical team as the additional screenplay and dialogues writer; thereby making his debut in both the fields.

[12] The film's title Maaran was officially announced with a poster release on 28 July 2021, coinciding with Dhanush's birthday.

[16] In March 2022, Vivek had announced that he left the project as a screenplay writer due to creative differences, while had contributed for two songs in the film as lyricist.

[24][25] Further additions to the cast were revealed in mid-January 2021, with theatre actor Krishnakumar Balasubramanian, who rose to fame, by playing a supporting role in Soorarai Pottru (2020), was chosen for the film.

[31][32] The film's crew members include: cinematographer Vivekanand Santhosham, editor Prasanna G. K., art director A. Amaran and action choreographers Stunt Silva.

[36] On 17 January, Dhanush and Malavika Mohanan headed to Hyderabad for the important schedule, that is expected to take place for 50 days.

[39] While, the team decided to resume shooting for the portions, featuring Dhanush, in May 2021, filming was interrupted due to COVID-19 second wave and the statewide lockdown in Tamil Nadu.

[40] After Dhanush's return from United States, the production house, on 25 June 2021,[41] announced that the filming of the final schedule will begin in July 2021.

The source further added that, the production team will conduct shooting adhering to the safety precautions set for preventing COVID-19 spread.

[45] During the production of the film, Naren was reported to quit the project and Dhanush will direct the remaining portions with Subramaniam Siva assisting him.

[50] The music is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar who is working with Dhanush for the fifth time, followed by Polladhavan (2007), Aadukalam, Mayakkam Enna (2011) and Asuran (2019), and his first collaboration with Karthick Naren.

[71] Before the film's release, few selfie standees were set up at Express Avenue, Chennai,[72] and a bioscope showcasing the snippets of few songs and the trailer was made available for public viewing at the venue.

Instead, it comes across as an effort to make a movie out of whatever footage was shot after the team realised that the film was not turning out as intended.

[76] Balakrishna Ganeshan of The News Minute gave the film a rating of 2/5 and wrote "Dhanush, who had just recovered with Atrangi Re after the disastrous Jagame Thanthiram, delivers another poor outing with Maaran.

[77] Bhavana Sharma of Pinkvilla after reviewing the film, gave a rating of 2 out of 5 stating that "The final ten minutes of the climax are very engaging.

"[78] Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 2/5 and wrote "The scenes are so bland that even the presence of Dhanush can't lift our spirits.

Karthick puts two bright actors, Ameer and Dhanush in a scene, and yet fails to create any sort of impact".

[80] Janani K of India Today gave a rating of 1.5 out of 5 stating that "With a runtime of two hours and 10 minutes, Maaran should have been a taut thriller.

"[81] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times after reviewing the film stated that "For Dhanush's decent performance alone, Maaran is watchable.