Kayamai Kadakka

Kayamai Kadakka
Directed byKiran R
Written byKiran R
Produced byKiran R
StarringVatsan M Natarajan
Masanth Natarajan
Nagarajan Kannan
CinematographySundar Ram Krishnan
Edited byKiran R
Music bySanthan Anebajagane
Production
company
Independent Mind Films
Release date
  • 3 December 2021 (2021-12-03)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Kayamai Kadakka (transl. Crossing the depraved/immoral behavior) is a 2021 Tamil-language thriller film written, directed, edited, and produced by Kiran R and is a partially crowd-funded film. The film stars Vatsan M Natarajan, Masanth Natarajan, and Nagarajan Kannan. The film was shot in and around Coimbatore employing guerrilla-filmmaking technique with a limited crew size of five.[1] The film was titled as Parallel Lines during its initial film festival run, before being released worldwide online on a pay-per-view platform on 3 December 2021.

Plot

Two men, who know each other only through Facebook, share two things in common: their name and their opinion towards injustice to crimes against women. Their lives take a deadly turn when they both meet in person for the first time.

Cast

  • Vatsan M Natarajan as Santosh
  • Masanth Natarajan as Santosh
  • Nagarajan Kannan as Aravind
  • Naveen Bala as Arun
  • Vishwa Bharath as Wasim
  • V. S. Gurunath as Kesavan
  • Pranav Kiruthik as Bharath
  • Dinesh Kimar as Pillion Rider
  • Metha R as Bike Rider

Production

Kiran, an erstwhile assistant of Mani Ratnam, made his debut as director through the film.[2][3]

Release

Kayamai Kadakka had its world premiere at Canada's Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival in December 2020, hosted online by the Digital TIFF Bell Lightbox. The film won Jury Prize at the festival and received special mention for Ensemble Performance, Screenplay, Editing, and Sound Design.[4]

It was later screened at the New York Indian Film Festival 2021, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2021, the Independent Film Festival of Chennai 2021 and the Caleidoscope Indian Film Festival Boston 2021.[5]

Following its release, The Times of India described the film as "an indie with ambition that manages to punch above its weight, Kayamai Kadakka is a minimalist thriller that keeps us guessing about where the narrative will go next."[6] Cinema Express called the film an "intriguing slow-burner", while The News Minute noted it was a "well-made thriller let down by indefensible politics".[7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka: Tamil Feature Film to be Screened at New York Indian Film Festival, Director Says Film was Shot in a "Backward Process"". Silverscreen India. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka: The long road home". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka director Kiran R: People go to theatres only for big-budget films". Cinema Express.
  4. ^ "Tamil indie film 'Parallel Lines' wins Jury prize at Canadian Film Festival". The News Minute. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  5. ^ Sangeetha, P (1 June 2021). "Indie film Parallel lines to be screened at New York Indian Film Festival". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka Review: Kayamai Kadakka is an indie with ambition", The Times of India, retrieved 17 December 2021
  7. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka Review: An intriguing slow-burner". Cinema Express.
  8. ^ "Kayamai Kadakka review: A well-made thriller let down by indefensible politics". 10 December 2021.