Imaikkaa Nodigal
| Imaikkaa Nodigal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | R. Ajay Gnanamuthu |
| Written by | Pattukkottai Prabakar (dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | R. Ajay Gnanamuthu |
| Story by | R. Ajay Gnanamuthu |
| Produced by | C. J. Jayakumar |
| Starring | Nayanthara Atharvaa Anurag Kashyap Raashi Khanna |
| Cinematography | R. D. Rajasekhar |
| Edited by | Bhuvan Srinivasan |
| Music by | Hiphop Tamizha |
Production company | Cameo Films India |
Release date |
|
Running time | 170 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
Imaikkaa Nodigal (transl. Unblinking Seconds) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language psychological thriller film which has Nayanthara, Atharvaa, Anurag Kashyap, and Raashi Khanna in leading roles. The film is written and directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu with music composed by Hiphop Tamizha, cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar, editing by Bhuvan Srinivasan, and produced by C. J. Jayakumar.[1] The film is a situational story focalizing on how a serial killer is apprehended by an intelligent CBI officer. The film was released on 30 August 2018. It received generally positive reviews from critics with Anurag Kashyap's performance garnering critical acclaim.
Plot
A serial killer (Anurag Kashyap) disrupts peace in Bengaluru by kidnapping. He goes by the name of the highly notorious serial killer Rudra, who was announced dead five years ago. After another such case, in which the CBI are involved headed by Anjali Vikramadithyan IPS (Nayanthara), he goes live and declares himself as the deceased Rudra. He insists that Rudra is still alive and announces that he is now back in action. Anjali, who dealt with the earlier case of Rudra, is appointed to deal with him.
In a parallel storyline in Chennai, Anjali's brother, Dr. Arjun Prabakar (Atharvaa), is facing a rough time in his relationship with Krithika Rao (Raashi Khanna) as they have eventually break up. To make it up to her, he and his friend Vinoth (Ramesh Thilak) travel to Bengaluru to meet her, but Arjun horribly enters the deadly scene between Rudra and Anjali. The cat-and-mouse game gets too intense when Rudra brings Arjun into the game by kidnapping Krithika and demanding a ransom from her father. In an effort to save Krithika, Arjun follows Rudra's orders and gets framed as "Rudra", making things much more complicated for him. Anjali is suspended, her family gets under house arrest, and Officer Narayan (Devan) takes over the case.
After a series of clues, Arjun deduces that ACP Martin Roy is the new Rudra and is trying to kill Krithika. He fights with Martin, only to get beaten badly. At the end of the fight, Martin reveals that he is not the actual Rudra and was very close to finding out who Rudra was. That is when he got suspended and Anjali had taken over the case. Martin then reveals that Rudra was Anjali. Feeling betrayed, Martin went rogue, murdered his wife, and staged three murders similar to the ones that "Rudra" had done.
When Arjun confronts Anjali, she reveals her motive, and in the process, the real cause of the death of her husband Vikramadithyan (Vijay Sethupathi), who died in an accident caused by four men who hit his head badly and made him suffer major blood loss. Though Anjali requests them for help, they consider their safety purpose and kill Vikram and beat Anjali. To avenge her husband's death, Anjali creates a serial killer called Rudra and kills the men responsible for Vikram's death under the name. When she kills the last one, she declares him as Rudra and closes the case. Together, Arjun and Anjali manipulate Martin using Narayan, and Martin is killed. The film closes with Arjun and Krithika reconciling and Anjali's daughter Shalini (Manasvi Kottachi) listening to a recording of Vikram's last words for her.
Cast
- Nayanthara as CBI Officer Anjali Vikramadithyan IPS
- Atharvaa as Dr. Arjun Prabakar
- Anurag Kashyap as Rudra (Ex-ACP Martin Roy). Voiceover by Magizh Thirumeni
- Raashi Khanna as Krithika Rao, Arjun's love interest
- Ramesh Thilak as Vinoth
- Devan as CBI Officer Narayan Gowda
- Uday Mahesh as Mr. Gowda
- Manasvi Kottachi as Shalini Vikramadithyan (Shalu), Anjali's daughter
- Vinoth Kishan as Dr. Vineeth
- Sai Krishna as Ram
- Vivek Raju as Prathap
- Jeeva Ravi as a victim's father (uncredited)
- Vijay Sethupathi in a special appearance as Vikramadithyan (Vikram), Anjali's husband
- Abishek Raaja in a special appearance as Surya
Production
Development
In May 2016, Ajay Gnanamuthu, who had previously made the successful horror film Demonte Colony agreed to work on a new film starring Atharvaa in the lead role. Initially reported to be a "romantic-thriller", it was revealed that the film was initially supposed to be made as the director's debut was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.[2][3] Thereafter, Jayakumar of Cameo Films agreed to finance the venture and revealed that the shoot would begin during September 2016.[4][5] For the technical crew, R. D. Rajasekhar was selected as the cameraman, Selvakumar as the art director, Pattukottai Prabhakar as the dialogue writer and Poorthi Pravin as the costume designer. Only Bhuvan Srinivasan was retained as the film editor, continuing his association with the director. Meanwhile, Hiphop Tamizha was selected to be the music composer, while the film was titled as Imaikka Nodigal during September 2016.[6]
Casting
The team signed actress Nayanthara to play the main lead role in this project, as Gnanamuthu was looking for a "strong female protagonist", and after hearing the script, the actress immediately agreed to be a part of the venture. She played the elder sister of Atharvaa.[7] For a further role, the team were on the lookout for a "pan-Indian actor" considering Prabhu Deva, Gautham Menon, and Anurag Kashyap for the character, and the latter was signed to do antagonist's role. The voice for Anurag was dubbed by director Magizh Thirumeni.[8] Raashi Khanna was also signed on to portray another character in the film, appearing as Atharvaa's love interest, and it had been confirmed that Vijay Sethupathi would be seen playing 15-minute cameo role as Nayanthara's husband.[9][10] Actor Kottachi's daughter, Manasvi, was cast as Nayanthara's daughter.[11]
Filming
Filming took place in Bengaluru. In December 2016, Imaikkaa Nodigal became the first film to be shot inside the tunnel stretch of the Namma Metro. Filming took place after metro services ceased at 10 PM. According to Jayakumar, "The script of the film demanded shooting in various places of Bengaluru.
The crew has been shooting in the city for the last 25 days. In the metro tunnel stretch, and shot scenes for two nights."[12] A cycle fight featuring Atharvaa. Lee Hon Yiu, a Cycle stunt specialist from Hong Kong, was brought down to work on this cycle stunt choreographed by 'Stun' Siva.[13][14]
Lee Honiyu is working along with the films stunt choreographer Stun Siva. This bicycle stunt was shot in five days at Bengaluru.[15]
Filming ended on 17 December 2017.[16]
Music
| Imaikkaa Nodigal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |||||||
| Released | 27 June 2018 | ||||||
| Recorded | 2016–2017 | ||||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | ||||||
| Length | 24:14 | ||||||
| Label | Think Music | ||||||
| Producer | Hiphop Tamizha | ||||||
| Hiphop Tamizha chronology | |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| Singles from Imaikkaa Nodigal | |||||||
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The musical score and songs featured in the film are composed by Hiphop Tamizha, and the lyrics are by Kabilan Vairamuthu, Mohanrajan, and Hiphop Tamizha. The album was released on 27 June 2018 alongside the film's trailer.[17]
The first single from the film has been released 4 October 2017, titled as Kadhalikathey, sung by Hiphop Tamizha and Kaushik Krish. Another single Vilambara Idaivelai sung by Christopher Stanley, Sudharshan Ashok, Srinisha Jayaseelan, and Hiphop Tamizha was released on 5 March 2018.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kadhalikathey" | Hiphop Tamizha | Hiphop Tamizha and Kaushik Krish | 03:22 |
| 2. | "Vilambara Idaiveli" | Kabilan Vairamuthu | Christopher Stanley, Sudarshan Ashok, Srinisha Jayaseelan and Hiphop Tamizha | 04:33 |
| 3. | "Neeyum Naanum Anbe" | Kabilan | Raghu Dixit, Sathyaprakash, Jithin Raj | 04:45 |
| 4. | "Kadhal Oru Aagayam" | Mohanrajan | Teejay and Al-Rufian | 02:41 |
| 5. | "Lion vs Hyenas" | R. Ajay Gnanamuthu | Magizh Thirumeni | 02:58 |
| 6. | "Rudra’s Symphony" | Hiphop Tamizha | 02:55 | |
| 7. | "Imaikkaa Nodiyil (Title Track)" | Hiphop Tamizha | Sanjith Hegde | 02:55 |
| Total length: | 24:14 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nuvvu Nenu Cheri" | Vanamali | V. Prasanna, Jithin Raj | 4:43 |
| 2. | "Preminchoddu Manasen" | Bandaru Hanumaiah | Jithin Raj | 3:22 |
| 3. | "Cheli Cheyyi" | Vanamali | Santosh Hariharan | 1:29 |
| 4. | "Hyena Story" | 1:32 | ||
| Total length: | 11:07 | |||
Release
Imaikkaa Nodigal was released on 30 August 2018.[18].The Satellite Rights Sold To Colors Tamil.
Critical reception
The Movie received positive reviews from critics.
The Times of India and Hindustan Times Rated the film 3.5/5 With Times of india stating "Apart from a few make-believe scenes, the director manages to keep the twists unpredictable and the thrill factor engaging till the end."[19] and Hindustan Times Noting "Nayanthara has succeeded yet again by picking a character that we have never seen her portray. Anjali is not perfect at what she does but her agenda is to catch the killer, played by Anurag Kashyap."[20]
The Eminent Film Critic Baradwaj Rangan described the film as"A generic, barely watchable serial-killer thriller that squanders a great premise"[21]
References
- ^ "revikha signs Ajay Gnanamuthu`s `Imaikkaa Nodigal`". Sify. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ^ "Ajay Gnanamuthu to direct Atharvaa next". Behindwoods. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ "Demonte Colony director Ajay's next is a romantic thriller with Atharvaa". Times of India. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ "Cameo films bags Ajay Gnanamuthu-Atharvaa combination". tamilcinemastars.com. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ "Athaarvaa teams up with Ajay Gnanamuthu". Sify. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ "'Hiphop Tamizha' signs 'Imaikaa Nodigal'". Sify. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ "Imaikka Nodigal – Atharvaa & Nayantara connection revealed". Top 10 Cinema. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
- ^ Imaikkaa Nodigal marks Anurag Kashyap's Tamil film debut as an actor; trailer crosses 1 mn views in a day- Entertainment News, Firstpost. Firstpost.com (29 June 2018). Retrieved on 2019-11-27.
- ^ https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2018/apr/04/i-dont-think-anurag-kashyap-knows-who-he-is-says-imaikkaa-nodigal-actress-raashi-khanna-1797021.html
- ^ https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/news/2017/dec/03/vijay-sethupathi-shoots-for-imaikkaa-nodigal-3360.html
- ^ "நயன்தாரா மகளாக நடித்த சுட்டி குழந்தை இந்த காமெடி நடிகரின் மகளாம்! [The small child who played Nayantara's daughter is the daughter of this comedy actor!]". The Times of India (in Tamil). 8 September 2018.
- ^ "Shooting in the metro tunnel". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ^ "A high-octane cycle stunt in Imaikaa..." www.deccanchronicle.com/. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
- ^ ""Cycle fight will be cherry pick of Imaikka Nodigal" – Ajay Gnanamuthu". Top 10 Cinema. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "Atharvaa shoots risky cycle stunt — Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
- ^ http://www.sify.com/movies/imaikkaa-nodigal-shoot-wrapped-up-news-tamil-rmsk4Wehicibg.html
- ^ Hiphop Tamizha's next album Imaikka Nodigal audio release date. Behindwoods.com. Retrieved on 27 November 2019.
- ^ "'Imaikkaa Nodigal' censored, to release on August 30!". Sify. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
- ^ "Imaikkaa Nodigal Review {3.5/5}: Unpredictable twists and engaging thrill factor". Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ "Imaikkaa Nodigal movie review: Anurag Kashyap's psychopath powers Nayanthara's cop drama". hindustantimes. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ ""Imaikkaa Nodigal"… A generic, barely watchable serial-killer thriller that squanders a great premise". Baradwaj Rangan. 20 September 2018.