This was supposed to be Puli’s week. But it’s going to be the clash of the debutant directors week. Delays in VFX and CG works pushed Puli’s release to October 1. And three films, Trisha Illana Nayanthara, Maya and 49-O, were quick to grab the vacant spot.
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It’s debutant director Adhik Ravichandran’s birthday on September 17, and he already feels the release of Trisha Illana Nayanthara (trailer here) will make this the ‘best birthday ever’. The film stars GV Prakash, Kayal Anandhi, Manisha Yadav and Simran. With the title carrying the names of three heroines she looks up to, a back to school Anandhi outfitted in double plaits and uniforms for the film admits expectations are riding high – ‘What if someone says Anandhi’s no Trisha?’ Arya will have a cameo appearance, and seemed pleased with composer-actor’s dance moves in ‘Bittu Padam Di’. Despite an ‘A’ certificate, certain scenes had to be trimmed, which left Ravichandran unhappy with the censor board. We’ll have to wait and see if all that sound and fury was worth it.
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And then there’s 49-O (trailer here). It’s a comedy drama. It’s a political satire. Its motto is “adhigama sirikka, konjam sindhikka“ (laugh more, think less). If you’re wondering about the title, 49-O is an election conduct rule in India, the ‘Right Not To Vote’. It was annulled in 2013 by the Supreme Court, and replaced with a ‘None of the above’ option. (Further reading: here). If only we had something similar for cinema (‘Don’t even make this film!’).
Comedian Goundamani is back after a long break, and plays a farmer. Aside from Goundamani, there’s Chaams, Balasingh, Guru Somasundaram, Thirumurugan, Munnar Ramesh, VIS Jayapalan and Alwa Vasu. And Vijay smoothed the way for the film to release at all.
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Supernatural horror drama Maya (trailer here) has something in common with Trisha Illana Nayanthara. It has Nayanthara. It’s also directed by a debutant director – Ashwin Saravanan. If Saravanan is to be believed, according to this report, this isn’t just another scary movie. Along the lines of a Stephen King gripping tale, Maya will also draw the audience in emotionally. Saravanan feels horror isn’t about what you feel when you’re about to die. “It’s a feeling that makes you want to die than go through this,” he says. Now that is certainly promising.
Fun fact: Whenever the team tried to shoot a certain ghost scene in a forest, it would start raining. Every single time. Until the director himself was spooked. In his words, “I still feel it wasn’t just a coincidence and there was something more to it.”
