Upcoming Tamil film Peechaankai has a poster that bears close resemblance to Aamir Khan’s 2015 hit PK. The director of the Tamil film, Ashok, however, claims that his movie’s story has nothing to do with the Hindi film. “It was a conscious decision to rip-off the poster design of PK. So as to pun on the alien aspect in PK. Here, the hero’s hand acts like an alien. That is why the tagline of the film is ‘Alien handed’,” he told ToI.
Ashok, who was a finalist on Naalaya Iyakkunar (Season 4), a short film contest for budding filmmakers, said that his film will focus on a medical condition known as Alien Hand Syndrome. The poster, too, has the naked hero hiding his private parts with an alien-like hand.
“The hero played by RS Karthik is a pick-pocket who suffers from alien hand syndrome after he meets with an accident. Several situations force him to join a kidnapping gang and how he manages to fit in the gang despite his malfunctioning hand forms the story. After he joins the gang, the story takes a different direction,” he told Deccan Chronicle.
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Alien hand syndrome is a rare neurological disorder in which one hand functions involuntarily, with the victim completely unaware of its action. Less horrifying symptoms include involuntary reaching and grasping, touching the face or tearing at clothing. More extreme cases have involved involuntarily stuffing food in the mouth, preventing the normal hand from completing simple tasks and self inflicted punching or choking. Ashok had even made a 30-minute documentary on the condition once.
This dark comedy film was shot in and around Chennai, and is expected to release soon. The cast of the film includes RS Karthik and Anjali Rao, both of whom were seen in minor roles in Gautham Menon’s Achcham Yenbathu Madamaiyada.