Nayanathara-starrer Kolaiyuthir Kaalam has run into legal trouble and may not release as planned today.
The film, which has been in production since 2016, created quite a buzz when its trailer released in March this year. The mystery-thriller is directed by Chakri Toleti, and is an official remake of the American horror film Hush (2016). Achu Rajamani has composed music, cinematography is by Cory Geryak and editing by Rameshwar S Bhagat.
Nayanthara arrives at a bungalow in a foreign land, and in one of the first scenes in the trailer we see her walk into a maze. She plays a woman with hearing disability, and is stuck in a haunted bungalow. Actress Bhumi Chawla plays one of the residents. Rohini Hattingadi and Malayalam actor Prathap Pothen have important roles.
The haunted house has typical horror elements like doors closing on their own, swaying trees and the like. A murder takes place here, and Nayanthara, who senses this, tries escaping from a hooded figure. She is seen in mortal fear. But there are no screams, and with minimal dialogues and a background score that helps keep the suspense, the trailer promises a thriller with many scares.
Nayanthara’s last film Airaa was a horror-thriller too. Director Chakri Toleti announced Kolaiyuthir Kaalam in November 2016, and it was said that the film would be the first production venture of composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. However, he opted out of the film later and Mathiyalagan of Etcetra Entertainment took over.
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An interim stay was ordered by the Madras High Court this week when film director Balaji Kumar filed a petition saying he had the rights to the title, and the release would amount to copyright infringement. He claimed that he bought the rights of a novel by the same name written by author Sujatha, and said that his repeated notification to the filmmakers about this went unheard.
The high court has asked the producers to respond to the claims by June 21.
Meanwhile, the Hindi version of the film, Khamoshi, that was shot simultaneously with Tamannaah and Prabhu Deva in the lead will release tomorrow.
Watch the trailer here: