Alternate) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action drama film[1] directed by K. V. Anand, who co-wrote the script with Subha, and produced by AGS Entertainment.

The film stars Suriya in dual roles as a conjoined twin brothers,[2] along with Kajal Aggarwal in the female lead.

A major portion of the film was shot in the Balkan region in countries like Croatia, Serbia, Netherlands, Andorra, Albania and Macedonia, as well as Latvia,Liechtenstein and other parts of Europe, with rest of the scenes in India.

While on a vacation in India, he attempts to create a human with several talents through baby designing, which leads to the birth of his sons, Akhilan and Vimalan, who are conjoined from the chest area.

For many months, Ramachandran attempts to secure funding for his projects but fails as neither the Government of India or Venture capitalists are willing to help him.

Vimalan has grown up to be an honest man who has graduated from college with a degree in chemistry, while Akhilan enjoys life.

When Vimalan confronts Volga, she reveals that Energion is an adulterated product that can lead to the deaths of thousands of children.

Volga also reveals that an industrialist named Ajay Rathnam joined their company as a spy, and after being exposed was murdered by Ramachandran.

Sudha is warned that Energion is adulterated, and confronts Ramachandran, who asks the food safety department to inspect their company.

They discover at an army research center that Ramachandran created Energion as a steroid to improve the performances of athletes at the Olympics.

As Ramachandran is about to be arrested, Akhilan requests him to surrender and finds out that he and Vimalan are a result of his father's failed experiment.

He narrated the story to Suriya who showed interest, but stalled the project due to the underdeveloped technology, leading to the duo making Ayan instead.

[4] During the late production stage the title was slightly changed from Maatraan to Maattrraan, the repetition of certain letters meant to reflect the film's theme of conjoined twins.

[citation needed] A major portion of the film was shot in the Balkan region in countries like Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia and especially a large chunk in Latvia.

[citation needed] In February 2012, the team left for the United States to do special facial scanning led by VFX Supervisor V. Srinivas Mohan.

[citation needed] Next, filming for an important talkie portion was held at Bhuj in Gujarat near the safe zone along the Indo-Pakistani border that lasted for five days.

However, since Suriya could not afford filming there due to his other commitments, Anand decided to erect a similar set in India to create the same look as in Madagascar.

[citation needed] The entire filming was wrapped up in Norway by completing the 'Naani Koni' song in outdoor scenes shot at Trollstigen, Geiranger, Atlanterhavsveien, Måløy and Aurlandsfjorden.

[15] Harris roped in Chennai-based singer-songwriter Mili Nair, who appeared in the MTV based Coke Studio,[16] to provide vocals for the teaser theme.

[17] Mili, who had previously sung for jingles, rendered the English lyrics used in the theme, and also included in the song "Rettai Kathirae".

[19] Harris Jayaraj, in May 2012, revealed that 85% of work in the film's music was complete,[20] and later stated that the audio would be released on 23 July 2012, coinciding with Suriya's birthday.

[27] The first copy of the audio CD was released by Gautham Vasudev Menon, N. Lingusamy and Hari and received it to the crew members.

"[30] Music Aloud gave 6.5 out of 10 and stated "Pretty much like their previous outing together, Harris Jayaraj produces one exceptional song for K V Anand in Maattrraan and the rest is average.

[citation needed] Eros International acquired the film's worldwide distribution rights in May 2012 and later announced that Maattrraan will release on 15 August 2012, coinciding with Independence Day.

[51] S Viswanath from Deccan Herald cited that "despite its interesting theme, the film is, however, done in by its rather long running time as also painfully sluggish first half seeking to establish the plot but brimming with comic capers", summing up that it was "an ensemble entertainer but could have been much better".

[52] Haricharan Pudipeddi of NowRunning gave the film 2.5/5 stars, stating that it "only promises the potential of Suriya, but fails to arouse interest due to its stretched second half and lacklustre narration".

[53] The New Indian Express critic Malini Mannath claimed that the film "with its whimsical screenplay and lackadaisical narration, turns out to be a huge disappointment", going on to add that it "smacks of overconfidence, and an utter disregard for the sense and sensibility of a viewer".

Suriya denied this and said, "I have been seeing comments and links on social networking sites saying that Maattrraan is based on some world movie.

[68] Vivek and Cell Murugan pretend to be conjoined twins in Killadi (2015) inspired by Akhilan and Vimalan from the film.

[69] An internet meme began trending on social media platforms in late May 2020, in which Suriya's films were coincided with real life incidents, that happened around the world.