‘Kannadi’ is a horror tale in Tamil and Telugu

You look into the mirror and the reflection is not yours!

Tamil director Caarthick Raju’s third film, ‘Kannadi’ (Mirror), is built around this premise.

Sundeep Kishan plays the lead role of Rishi, an architect. The trailers intrigue you. Kishan’s reflection in the mirror shows the image of actor Karunakaran. Anya Singh marks her Tamil cinema debut opposite him.

Shot separately in both Tamil and Telugu, this psychological horror story came with its own share of challenges.

“Shooting the mirror portions were time consuming. We shot first with Sundeep before the mirror, followed by Karunakaran, all the while keeping in mind the mirror images and its movements to coincide with Sundeep’s actions. Later, both the pictures were merged,” explained Raju.

This was a challenging role for Kishan, too. Impressed with the story, Kishan decided to produce the Telugu version, titled ‘Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene’ (‘Wherever You Go I Will Follow You’).

Venila Kishore reprises Karunakaran’s role in Telugu.

However, the two versions are quite different, added Raju.

Having been a computer graphics supervisor earlier, working on the CG effects for the film did not pose much of a challenge.

“The highlight in the film, he said, “is a single shot composed of 2200 frames stretching for two minutes.”

Promising a horror tale that does not follow the regular tropes, Raju added, “At the core is an emotional tale.”

The supporting cast includes Anand Raj, Murali Sharma, Poornima Bhagyaraj and Pragathi. SS Thaman has scored music. PK Varma is the DOP.