Pre-production

The collaboration between Listin Stephen and Radhika's production house and director Balaji Mohan was first revealed in early January 2014, with Dhanush and Kajal Aggarwal being signed on to be a part of the "romantic entertainer".^[3] The first look poster released later indicated that Dhanush was a co-producer of the film.^[4] Mohan wanted the film not to be a bilingual like his previous ventures as he found the process difficult to shoot the same shot twice and to retain the same energy in both of them. He said in an interview in March 2014 that he narrated a one-liner to Dhanush, on whose consent, he would develop the complete script after releasing Vaayai Moodi Pesavum (2014), adding that this film would "definitely not be a love story".^[5] Dhanush had said in early August 2014 that the project was in its pre-production stages.^[6] Anirudh Ravichander, who was supposed to work with Mohan for Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, was selected as the film's music director, marking his fifth collaboration with Wunderbar Films. Prasanna, an assistant of A. Sreekar Prasad, was signed in on as the film's editor while Om Prakash undertook the cinematography. Vijai Murugan was signed in on as the film's art director.^[7] On 7 November 2014, Mohan announced that the film was titled Maari.

Dhanush was initially rumoured to be seen as a tailor living in north-Madras in the film. Sources close to the film's unit later said that he would be seen as a local slum chieftain for which he had to speak in a Madras accent.^[8] His character was later revealed to be a person who is into pigeon racing, similar to the one he played in Aadukalam (2011), where he was seen as a person dealing with rooster fights.^[9] Kajal Aggarwal, who was supposed to work with Dhanush in Polladhavan (2007),^[10] was cast on Dhanush's insistence, who wanted to gain a foothold in Telugu cinema by cashing in on Aggarwal's stardom there.^[11] She said in an interview that she overcame her fear of birds due to her experiences with pigeons during the film's shoot.^[12] Although Kajal Aggarwal was signed during the film's initial stages of production, she joined the sets in November 2014.^[13] Robo Shankar, one of the cast of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, was signed in on for an important role.^[7] Playback singer Vijay Yesudas joined the team in December 2014, making his debut as an actor in Tamil cinema.^[14] He stated in late February 2015 that he would play the role of a police officer.^[15] Anirudh made a cameo appearance in the film and joined its sets in mid March 2015.^[16]

Filming

Principal photography began on 4 November 2014 at T. Nagar in Chennai.^[7] The film's second schedule began on 25 November 2014.^[17] By 11 December 20 days of the film's shoot was done including a montage song.^[18] A special set was erected at Valasaravakkam, Chennai where portions of the film including a song and a fight sequence were shot for 20 days continuously from 23 December 2014.^[19]

By 8 January 2015, half of the film shoot was completed, which included two songs. The team planned two short schedules, one before Pongal and one around 20 January 2015 for 5 days.^[20] Filming continued at a market area in Triplicane during early February 2015 and a similar set was erected in Chennai to shoot major portions of the film.^[8] The film's shoot was wrapped up by 21 February 2015 in four months.^[21] It was later known that 20% of the filming is remaining for which the film's team left for Tuticorin port to shoot the film's last schedule.^[22] The song "Thara Local Boys" featuring Dhanush and Anirudh was shot in mid March 2015. Dhanush confirmed the completion of principal photography on 15 March 2015 through his Twitter page.^[23]

Distribution

In addition the film was dubbed and released in Hindi as Rowdy Hero and in Telugu as Mass in 2016. The rights for the Telugu dubbed version were acquired by Vasireddi Padmakara Rao.^[27]

Promotion

The first look poster of the film was released on 7 November 2014, revealed by Dhanush on Twitter. The new poster is loud and colorful and features Dhanush of course in rounded sunglasses, with a colourful scarf and a gold chain.^[28] The second look poster was released on 1 January 2015, coinciding the New Year's Day, featuring Dhanush tweaking his moustache. The teaser of the film was released on 20 May 2015, which happens to be the introduction scene of Dhanush from a fight sequence, who walks in from behind a car with a cigarette in his hand. The stylish entry of Dhanush and with the background score composed by Anirudh adds the mass effect of the teaser. The cinematography is handled by Om Prakash and the teaser has raised the expectations of the film.^[29][30] The theatrical trailer of Maari was released on 25 June 2015.^[31][32]

Home Media

Star Vijay acquired the satellite rights of the film, initially reporting that the satellite rights were secured by Sun TV.^[33] The film's television premiere took place on 10 November 2015, at 10:00 a.m. IST during Diwali.^[34]

Critical reception

Maari received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the music, production values, humour, and performances of Dhanush and Robo Shankar, while criticizing the director for making a routine masala fare and deviating from the offbeat comical tone of his previous two directorial ventures.

Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "Save for the bits with Robo Shankar, the writing is shockingly ordinary — lots of tells, very little show...Does making a mass movie mean that you forget to make an interesting one?"^[35] The Times of India gave 2 out of 5 and wrote, "If you, like many others, had been excited about Maari after watching its trailer, be prepared for disappointment. Almost all the worst bits from the film are already in the trailer and the film clearly lacks the crackling energy that we see in the trailer. Maari largely feels like one huge build-up without any proper pay-off".^[36] NDTV wrote, "A couple of mass moments and some quirky humor apart, there's nothing in Maari to justify the much-anticipated Balaji Mohan- Dhanush collaboration".^[37] Indo-Asian News Service wrote, "the director isn't capable of delivering a wholesome commercial entertainer with some story, some heroism and some cliches a la Dhanush's recent blockbuster Vella Illa Pattathari. Except for the story, we get everything else from Maari, and that's the smallest concern of the movie", with the critic adding that "Dhanush saves a very ordinary film".^[38] Rediff gave 0.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Uninspiring and predictable, director Balaji Mohan's Maari is just another mass masala movie created to idolise its hero".^[39] The New Indian Express wrote, "The director's attempt to go ‘commercial’ this time, concentrating more on his hero than the script, backfires. The film gives a sense of Deja vu throughout, the real interesting moments very few and far between", calling the film "a painless tedious experience, meant for hardcore Dhanush fans".^[40]

Behindwoods gave 1.5 out of 5 and stated "Maari is a very dummy masala flick made to satisfy the mass audience".^[41] Sify gave 1 out of 5 by saying Director Balaji Mohan has made the film with childish punch dialogues, slow-motion shots and an adrenaline flawless background score by Anirudh. It is a film that makes no bones, no pretenses about the fact that it is packaged for E audiences.^[42]

Box office

Maari collected ₹9 - 10.3 crore on its opening weekend (domestic) which was the highest for Dhanush. The film was released in 294 screens in Chennai, where it collected ₹1.61 crore,^[43] The film managed to cross ₹23 crore in three weeks of its release.^[44]