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Muni
Muni
	Series logo
Directed by	Raghava Lawrence
Written by	Dialogues:; Raghava Lawrence; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2, Kanchana 3); Ramesh Khanna; (Muni)
Screenplay by	Raghava Lawrence
Story by	Raghava Lawrence
Produced by	Saran ; (Muni); Raghava Lawrence ; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2); Kalanidhi Maran ; (Kanchana 3)
Starring	Raghava Lawrence; Kovai Sarala; Rajkiran; Sarathkumar; Devadarshini; Sriman; Vedhika; Vinu Chakravarthy; Raai Laxmi; Nithya Menon; Taapsee; Renuka; Oviya; Nikki Tamboli; Ri Djavi Alexandra
Cinematography	K. V. Guhan; (Muni) ; Vetri; E. Krishnasamy; (Kanchana) ; R. B. Gurudev; Rajavel Olhiveeran ; (Kanchana 2); Vetri; Sarvesh Murari ; (Kanchana 3)
Edited by	Suresh Urs; (Muni); Kishore Te.; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2)
Music by	Original Songs:; Bharadwaj; (Muni); S. Thaman; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2); Leon James; (Kanchana 2); C. Sathya; (Kanchana 2); Ashwamithra; (Kanchana 2); Doo Paa Doo; (Kanchana 3); Background Score:; Sangeetharajan; (Muni); S. Thaman; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2); Doo Paa Doo; (Kanchana 3)
Production; companies	Gemini Productions; (Muni); Raghavendra Productions; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2); Sun Pictures; (Kanchana 3)
Distributed by	Tamil:; Gemini Productions; (Muni); Sri Thenandal Films ; (Kanchana, Kanchana 2) ; Sun Pictures ; (Kanchana 2, Kanchana 3)
Release dates	1: 9 March 2007; 2 : 22 July 2011; 3 : 17 April 2015; 4 : 19 April 2019 5 : TBA
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	₹ 49 crore (see release and revenue below)
Box office	₹ 238 crore (see release and revenue below)

Muni is an Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film series created and directed by Raghava Lawrence who also appeared in lead roles in all the films. The first film is Muni (2007) and the second is Muni 2: Kanchana (2011) with the third installment of the franchise titled Muni 3: Kanchana 2: Ganga (2015). The latest movie, the fourth instalment is Muni 4: Kanchana 3 (2019). and stars Raghava Lawrence and Kovai Sarala with Rajkiran, Sarathkumar, Devadarshini, Sriman, Vedhika, Vinu Chakravarthy, Raai Laxmi, Nithya Menon, Taapsee, Renuka, Oviya, Nikki Tamboli, Alexandra Ri Djavi. All films were successful at the box office, continuing the trend of the comedy-horror genre in Tamil cinema that began with Chandramukhi (2005).

All four films revolve around the same plot of a coward who gets possessed by a ghost to take revenge on the people who killed them, and the rest of the film shows how he takes revenge. Raghava Lawrence and Kovai Sarala are the only actors to appear in every installment of the series.

Synopsis

Muni (2007)

A young man, along with his wife and his parents, migrates to Chennai where he gets possessed by the spirit of a kind-hearted person who was murdered by an ambitious and corrupt political leader.

Muni 2: Kanchana (2011)

When three spirits possess a timid young man and start making him act like a woman, his mother consults an exorcist who unearths a heartbreaking tale of societal injustice, murder and vengeance.

Muni 3: Kanchana 2 (2015)

A cameraman is petrified of ghosts but obliges when his director proposes a show on ghosts to revive their TV channel. However, strange things happen when they start working on the show.

Muni 4: Kanchana 3 (2019)

Raghava is a young man who lives happily with his family but is scared of ghosts. When he visits Coimbatore with his family, he is possessed by a vengeful ghost with a sinister past.

Films

Film	Release date	Director	Producer(s)
Muni	9 March 2007	Raghava Lawrence	Saran
Muni 2: Kanchana	22 July 2011		Raghava Lawrence
Muni 3: Kanchana 2	17 April 2015		Raghava Lawrence
Muni 4: Kanchana 3	19 April 2019		Kalanithi Maran, Raghava Lawrence
Muni 5: Kanchana 4	2025		Raghava Lawrence

Muni (2007)

The first installment of the series, based on fictional incidents. A young man, along with his wife and his parents, migrates to Chennai where he gets possessed by the spirit of a kind-hearted person who was murdered by an ambitious and corrupt political leader. Muni was released on 9 March 2007 and gained positive response.^[1] It earned ₹15 crore against a budget of ₹4 crore.^[2]

Kanchana

After the success of Muni Raghava and Sarala Re-unite once again for sequel. The film was titled as Muni 2: Kanchana and also second installment in this series.^[3] The film was released on 22 July 2011 worldwide. The film's soundtrack was composed by S. Thaman.^[4] Kanchana opened to mostly positive reviews.^[5] The film grossed ₹68 crore worldwide^[6] becoming the second highest grossing Tamil film of 2011.

Kanchana 2

A stand-alone sequel, Muni 3: Kanchana 2, was commissioned after the success of the previous films and was also directed by Raghava.^[7] It stars Raghava, Taapsee and Sarala in lead roles.^[8] And also the third installment in this series. It was released on 17 April 2015 in around 750 screens worldwide alongside Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani. The Telugu version titled Ganga^[9] was released later on 1 May 2015 in around 550 screens.^[10]^[11] Film received positive response from audience.^[12] Proving to be similarly successful to the first entry in the series, the film emerged as a huge box office success, becoming the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2015.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Kanchana 3

The fourth installment in this series, written and directed by Raghava.^[16] The film was titled as Naagaa,^[17] then changed to Muni 4: Kanchana 3, produced by Sun Pictures.^[18] The film stars Raghava in a dual role with Oviya, Vedhika, Nikki Tamboli,^[19] Keerthi Pandian and Ri Djavi Alexandra. While Kovai Sarala, Soori, Tarun Arora, and Kabir Duhan Singh play supporting roles. Kanchana 3 was released on Good Friday in 2019.^[20] The film received mixed reviews from audiences, comparisons of Kanchana 1 and 2.^[21]^[22] It earned ₹130 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹20 crore, becoming one of the fourth highest grossing Tamil film of 2019.^[23]

Kanchana 4

The fifth installment in this series, written and directed by Raghava.

Future films

Film	Release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Story by	Producer(s)	Status
Durga	2024	TBA			Raghava Lawrence	Filming^[24]
Muni 5: Kanchana 4	TBA	Raghava Lawrence			TBA	Announced^[25]

Durga (2024)

A spin-off, Durga ,was commissioned after the success of the previous film and directed by renowned stunt masters Anbarivu. It is a directional debut for the twins. The film stars Raghava Lawrence, Kovai Sarala, Sriman and Devadarshini in lead roles. The film will release theatrically worldwide in summer 2024.^[24]

Recurring cast and characters

This table lists the main characters who appear in the Muni film series.

Actors	Films
	Muni	Muni 2: Kanchana	Muni 3: Kanchana 2	Muni 4: Kanchana 3	Muni 5: Kanchana 4
	2007	2011	2015	2019	2025
Raghava Lawrence	Ganesh	Raghava	Raghava & Shiva (Dual role)	Raghava & Kaali (Dual role)	Raghava
Kovai Sarala	Sarala
Vedhika	Priya			Priya	TBA
Raai Laxmi		Priya			TBA
ViroshanSKA					TBA
Sriman		Prasad	Dr. Prasad	Prasad	TBA
Devadarshini		Kamakshi		Kamakshi	TBA
Yuvasri Lakshmi				Pappa	TBA
Renuka			Nandini's sister-in-law		TBA
Taapsee Pannu			Nandini		TBA
Nithya Menen			Ganga		TBA
Mayilsamy		fake priest	Watchman

Additional crew and production details

Occupation	Film
	Muni	Muni 2: Kanchana	Muni 3: Kanchana 2	Muni 4: Kanchana 3
	2007	2011	2015	2019
Producer(s)	Saran	Raghava Lawrence		Kalanithi Maran Raghava Lawrence
Director	Raghava Lawrence
Story writer
Screenplay writer
Dialogue writer	Ramesh Khanna	Raghava Lawrence
Song composer(s)	Bharadwaj	S. Thaman	S. Thaman C. Sathya Aswamithra Leon James	Doo Paa Doo
Background Score	Sangeetharajan	S. Thaman
Director of photography	K. V. Guhan	Vetri, E. Krishnasamy	Rajavel Oliveeran, R. B. Gurudev	Vetri, Sarvesh Murari
Editor(s)	Suresh Urs	Kishore Te.		Ruben
Art Director(s)	Mohana Mahendran	Jana
Stunt co-ordinator	Super Subbarayan
Production companies	Gemini Productions	Raghavendra Productions, Sri Thenandal Films	Raghavendra Productions	Raghavendra Productions, Sun Pictures
Distributing company	Gemini Productions	Sun Pictures	Sun Pictures
Distributing company	Sri Thenandal Films	Sun Pictures	Wellborn International (Kerala)
Running time	153 minutes	170 minutes	164 minutes	166 minutes

Release and Revenue

Box office performance

The franchise has been notable for its profit, with Muni^[2] and its follow-up having earned a combined revenue of ₹238 crore, according to IBtimes.^[26]

Film	Release date	Budget	Box office revenue	Ref.
Muni	9 March 2007	₹4 crore (US$480,000)	₹15 crore (US$1.8 million)	^[2]
Muni 2: Kanchana	22 July 2011	₹7 crore (US$840,000)	₹35 crore (US$4.1 million)	^[6]
Muni 3: Kanchana 2	17 April 2015	₹18 crore (US$2.2 million)	₹108 crore (US$13 million)
Muni 4: Kanchana 3	19 April 2019	₹20 crore (US$2.4 million)	₹130 crore (US$16 million)	^[26]
Total		₹49 crore (US$5.9 million) (four films)	₹238 crore (US$29 million) (four films)

Remakes

Year	Film	Language	Cast	Notes	Ref.
2012	Kalpana	Kannada	Upendra, Raai Laxmi, Saikumar, Babu Antony	Remake of Kanchana	^[27]
2016	Maya	Sinhalese	Ranjan Ramanayake, Pubudu Chathuranga, Giriraj Kaushalya, Nilmini Kottegoda and Upeksha Swarnamali		^[28]
2017	Tar Tay Gyi	Burmese	Nay Toe and Shwe Thamee		^[29]
2017	Mayabini	Bengali Bangladesh	Symon Sadik, Airin Sultana, Amit Hasan		^{[citation needed]}
2020	Laxmii	Hindi	Akshay Kumar, Kiara Advani, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Rajesh Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar and Sharad Kelkar		^[30]^[31]
2016	Kalpana 2	Kannada	Upendra, Priyamani and Avantika Shetty	Remake of Kanchana 2	^[32]

Legacy

Along with Chandramukhi (2005), Muni became a trendsetter for horror comedy films. The success of the film inspired several other horror comedy films including the Aranmanai film series (2014) and Darling (2015).^[33]^[34]^[35]