Kolaiyuthir Kaalam

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Kolaiyuthir Kaalam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChakri Toleti
Based on
Hush
by Mike Flanagan
Produced byV. Mathiyalagan
StarringNayanthara
Bhumika Chawla
Pratap Pothen
Rohini Hattangadi
CinematographyCory Greyak
Edited byRameshwar S. Bhagat
Music byAchu Rajamani
Satya Manik Afsar
Production
company
Release date
  • 9 August 2019 (2019-08-09)
Running time
100 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Kolaiyuthir Kaalam (transl. Season of murders) is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language horror thriller film[1] directed by Chakri Toleti and produced by V. Mathiyalagan. A remake of the 2016 American film Hush, it follows a deaf-mute woman who must fight for her life when a killer appears at her door. The film, starring Nayanthara, Bhumika Chawla, Pratap Pothen, and Rohini Hattangadi, began production in November 2016. The film was released on 9 August 2019. A Hindi version Khamoshi (2019), also directed by Toleti, was released before this film.

Plot

Shruthi is a deaf and mute girl who grew up in an orphanage in Chennai. Impressed with her personality and talent, a millionaire from the UK adopts her and makes her his legal heir. When She arrives in London, after the death of her adopted mother, trouble arises in the form of a home invasion. A strange man chases her inside the bungalow after killing all of the houses staff, along with Anand, and also sets the will on fire. After being chased, She attempts to kill the man but Mrs. Anand steps in and shoots him. It is revealed that Mrs. Anand set up the attack in order to take all the assets for herself. When Shruthi refuses to agree to her demands, Mrs. Anand shoots her in the shoulder. He wakes up and kills Mrs. Anand. The following day, the police show up while Shruthi is waiting. Paramedics take her into the ambulance, and the masked man is missing. When getting medical attention in the ambulance, the paramedic has a skull tattoo and Shruthi seems distraught. The film ends without showing if Shruthi dies and the true identity of the masked man remains undisclosed.

Cast

Production

In mid-November 2016, Chakri Toleti began working on his fourth feature film, following the bilingual Unnaipol Oruvan (2009) and Billa II (2012). Nayanthara was selected to play the leading role, and it was revealed that the film would be a heroine-centric project.[2] Later the same month the title was revealed to be Kolaiyuthir Kaalam.[3] Production began in January 2017 in London,[4] and the film was simultaneously shot in Hindi by the same director as Khamoshi.[5] By April, Kolaiyuthir Kaalam was described as being "on the verge of completion".[6] The film was produced by V. Mathiyalagan under Etcetera Entertainment, photographed by Cory Greyak and edited by Rameshwar S. Bhagat, while the background score was composed by Achu Rajamani.[7]

Release

Kolaiyuthir Kaalam was initially scheduled to release on 14 June 2019 but was delayed because of a lawsuit over the film's title. Director Balaji K. Kumar, who was planning an adaptation of Sujatha's novel Kolaiyuthir Kaalam, paid ₹10 lakh (equivalent to ₹12 lakh or US$13,000 in 2023) for the novel's rights and filed a lawsuit against the makers of the unrelated film, seeking to stop them from using the same title. The Madras High Court subsequently put an interim injunction on the film's release.[8] However, at the end of the month, the court closed the lawsuit in favour of the defendants, with the title unchanged. The court declared that the title was not copyrighted and since the film had been widely publicised since 2016, criticised Balaji for filing a lawsuit when the film was too close to release.[9] The film was then scheduled for release on 26 July,[10] but continued to face delays, with one reported reason being the failure of Khamoshi.[11] It was then dated for 1 August,[12][13] but eventually released over a week later, on 9 August.[14][15]

Reception

M. Suganth of The Times of India wrote, "The film fails right in its set-up. These initial portions [...] are so badly directed, with terrible line readings that seem straight out of a dubbed film, that we lose interest right away" He added that the "portions involving the slasher, too, are laughably executed that we neither feel horrified nor thrilled" and even Nayanthara, "the Lady Superstar, seems ordinary and cannot save it".[16] Gopinath Rajendran of The New Indian Express wrote, "Nayanthara is the only saving grace of the film [...] she looks close to perfect as the vulnerable and helpless Shruthi. And yet, it is hard for us to root for Shruthi who remains clueless till the very end".[17] The film was also reviewed by Srivatsan S of The Hindu,[18] and Sify.[19]

References

  1. "Kolaiyuthir Kaalam". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on 19 June 2026. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
  2. "Nayan might be seen in an action flick". The New Indian Express. 16 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  3. "Nayanthara's next with Chakri Toleti titled 'Kolaiyuthir Kaalam'". The Times of India. 18 November 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  4. "Kolaiyuthir Kaalam: Nayanthara's next goes on floors". India Today. 30 January 2017. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  5. "Actor Prabhas to make a cameo in 'Khamoshi'?". The News Minute. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  6. Rajendran, Gopinath (6 April 2017). "Yuvan Shankar Raja buys rights to more films". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 19 January 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  7. "Nayanthara's 'Kolaiyuthir Kaalam' release date announced". The News Minute. 20 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2026. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  8. "Madras High Court issues interim injunction against Nayanthara's Kolaiyuthir Kaalam". India Today. 11 June 2019. Archived from the original on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  9. "High Court clears decks for release of Nayanthara-starrer Kolayuthir Kaalam". The Hindu. 29 June 2019. Archived from the original on 19 June 2026. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  10. "Nayanthara's Kolaiyuthir Kaalam to release on July 26". The Indian Express. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  11. ""Kolaiyuthir Kaalam" postponed once again!". Sify. 24 July 2019. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  12. "Kolaiyuthir Kaalam vs Jackpot: Nayanthara to clash with Jyothika at the box office this August". India Today. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  13. "Nayanthara's Kolaiyuthir Kaalam gets postponed for seventh time". India Today. 3 August 2019. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  14. "'கொலையுதிர் காலம் - 9வது அறிவிப்பாக 9ம் தேதி ரிலீஸ்" [Kolaiyuthir Kaalam – As the 9th announcement, it releases on the 9th]. Dinamalar (in Tamil). 5 August 2019. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  15. "Friday Fury – August 8". Sify. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  16. Suganth, M (10 August 2019). "Kolaiyuthir Kalam Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  17. Rajendran, Gopinath (15 August 2019). "'Kolaiyuthir Kaalam' film review: A textbook example on how not to make a slasher flick". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  18. S, Srivatsan (11 August 2019). "'Kolaiyuthir Kaalam' review: Nayanthara struggles to stay relevant in a patchy thriller". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
  19. "Kolaiyuthir Kaalam review: A wishy-washy film that fails to deliver!". Sify. 10 August 2019. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2026.