The deer that does not graze) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Rathna Kumar in his feature directorial debut and produced by Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Creations.
The film stars Vaibhav and Priya Bhavani Shankar in the leads, with Vivek Prasanna, Indhuja Ravichandran, Arun Prasath, and Amrutha Srinivasan in supporting roles.
The film focuses on 'Idhayam' Murali, a happy-go-lucky light music singer, and his relationships with his longtime, one-sided love interest Madhumitha, his sister Sudarvizhi and his best friend Vinoth.
Production was completed silently and the venture was first reported by the media in June 2017, with the film being shot primarily in Royapuram, Chennai.
Meyaadha Maan was released on 18 October 2017, coinciding with Diwali, and received positive reviews from critics praising the performances of the cast, particularly those of Indhuja and Vivek, and the major technical aspects.
However, Vinoth is injured in an accident, so, Murali attends the marriage and also performs with his music crew, "Meyadha Maan."
Subsequently, Murali learns about the drama played by Vinoth and attacks him furiously for making him believe that Madhu is an ill-mannered person.
After a few interesting twists and turns, Vinoth marries Sudarvizhi and Madhu reveals that she got pregnant by Murali through the earlier plan of stopping the arranged marriage ceremony.
[1] Rathna Kumar initially had no intentions of making Madhu into a feature film and had developed it only for his portfolio, but obliged to Subbaraj's request as producers were not keen on listening to his other scripts and also due to the commercial nature of the short.
The film's lead character runs a light music troupe, making the setting of Royapuram apt for the script.
To prepare for his role, Vaibhav observed the emotions and body language of real stage singers by watching videos.
He subsequently announced a casting call online, following which television actress Priya Bhavani Shankar got in touch.
Following a successful audition, she was selected to play the leading role of Madhumitha, with Rathna Kumar stating that her on-screen "image" worked for the film.
[1] The "Thangachi Song" is a dance number picturised on Vaibhav and Indhuja Ravichandran, which was sung by Anthony Daasan.
[11] Another single titled "Enna Naan Seiven" sung by Pradeep Kumar and Kalyani Nair released on 25 August 2017, coinciding with Ganesh Chathurthi.
[15] The album which was marketed by Think Music was released at a promotional launch event held at Loyola College in Chennai on 27 September 2017,[16] with the film's cast and crew and other celebrities in attendance.
[4][3][21] Some of the trade analysts believed that the film has benefited not only from the word-of-mouth but also due to the unique promotional ways initiated by producers which resulted in the good exposure among audiences.
M. Suganth of The Times of India criticised the lengthy plotline of the film adding that "many scenes go on far longer than they should and make us wish they had been tightly written and edited", but also stated that "since [Rathna Kumar] has also gotten us invested in these interesting characters, we overlook this flaw and take it as a reason to be with these characters for some more time".
"[31] Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu stated that "Director Rathna Kumar’s slumberous style of storytelling is both a curse and a blessing".
[32] Baradwaj Rangan, in his review for Film Companion South, wrote, "Rathna Kumar puts together what could be called a “rooted romcom”.
The typical romcom is just fluff, the cinematic equivalent of cotton candy — but Meyaadha Maan sets its sights higher.
"[35] Arunkumar Shekhar of The New Indian Express wrote "Quirky twists and splendid music elevate this film from being your regular romance".
Indhuja stated in her social media page, saying that: "Some people think controversy makes them reach big.
If I wanted to do that to come up in the industry, I would not have struggled for four years to get Meyadha Maan and Mercury, films whose makers respected my talent.
If I don’t reply to this video now they will keep doing this to the other upcoming actors who have worked hard and struggled to be a part of this cinema industry.