He restarted work on "Pokkisham" for the third time in December 2005, after completing "Thavamai Thavamirundhu" (2005), and approached Sandhya to play the lead role. The film did not take off so he moved on to make "Maya Kannadi" (2007) starring himself and Navya Nair in the lead roles. "Mayakannadi" was based on the concept of middle class dreams turning sour due to lack of commitment and created attention prior to release owing to Cheran's recent success. However, the film fared poorly at the box office and lost money for distributors. It received mixed reviews and a critic noted "after seeing the film, we hope that the director applies this message in his life by sticking to his core strength of direction rather than dabble in roles that just do not suit him". Another reviewer from Rediff.com stated it was a "brave, real film" and that "Cheran has done a superb job directing as well as acting". After the film's release, Cheran suggested that he regretted not thinking about letting someone else play the lead role instead of himself.