Starring: Aari, Shubha Phutela, Subbu Panchu, Sivaji, Balaji, Tejasvini, Sathish, Karuna, Srini
Direction: Narayanan Nagendra Rao
Music: Achu
Production: Mayuri Sekar

Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey (MPM) is gearing up for a release on July 27th. The film's music by Achu is already popular and it has received good reviews from critics and fans alike.

MPM is about what happens in a coffee shop between 6.30 to 8.30 pm and is expected to be a different take on romance. The director and writer of MPM is Narayanan Nagendra Rao, one of Mysskin`s favourite assistants.

The cast list comprises Aari and Shubha Phutela in the lead roles, with Subbu Panchu, Sivaji and Balaji in supporting roles. It has been censored with a clean U certificate.

Mayuri Sekar produces the film with cinematography by Gopi Amarnath. With fans on a heavy action diet in the past weeks with Billa 2 and The Dark Knight, MPM is expected to present a stark contrast in the form of a breezy romance.

Behind the Scenes:

In February 2010, the makers of Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey (MPM) announced that they were going to host auditions to select a heroine for the film and a road show was subsequently held for 2 days around various colleges and popular hangouts in Chennai. In March 2010, details about the project became more clear and it was announced that a team of five assistant directors were to come together to produce a film, setting a company up named 'Team AD'. It was revealed that the film is about the happenings that take place in just 2.5 hours time, mentioning that the story starts at 6.30 pm, exactly when the show starts at a theatre and ends at 9 pm, when the show ends. The five member team - Narayanan, Arun, Sakthi, Manoj and Subash - decided that Narayanan would be the director. It was announced that Adith Arun, who played the lead role in Katha (2009) and Inidhu Inidhu (2010), would be paired opposite Regina Cassandra, who played the sister of Laila in Kanda Naal Mudhal. The film was expected to be shot and released by May 2010, but eventually failed to proceed so swiftly.

The film re-emerged in October 2011 where it was announced that the lead roles were being played by Aari of Rettaisuzhi fame and winner of Miss South India 2010, Shubha Phutela; while production was taken over by Mayuri Sekar. The actress had to learn Tamil, and it took her over two months of practice to get the pronunciations right. The director wanted to opt for live-sound recording, making it more difficult for the non-Tamil speaking actress. Shubha Phutela had to opt out of the Kannada film in February 2012, Jai Bhajarong Bali, choosing to give her priority dates to completing Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey. Aari mentioned that it was "really challenging to play an ordinary guy", as he had to consciously keep his emotions to a minimum at all times.

The soundtrack features 9 songs composed by Achu, with lyrics by Rohini, Narayan Nagendra Rao and Achu himself. A single track for the film was expected to be launched in September 2011, but eventually did not happen. The soundtrack was launched on February 15, 2012 by Ameer, who used the platform to make controversial statements about the FEFSI strike of 2012. The event also included other film personalities like Mysskin, Cheran, Balaji, Thamarai, and Prabhu Solomon.