Vijay Antony’s decision to release ten minutes of footage from his upcoming film Saithan has stirred up anticipation for the thriller.
The composer-turned-actor has often picked roles that are out of the ordinary — right from his debut film, Naan, to his previous release, Pichakkaran, both of which piqued curiosity with their cryptic titles.
At a time when directors are using experimental trailers, here comes a video of almost ten minutes that takes viewers into the opening scenes of Saithan.
Those who have watched it can’t wait to find out who Jayalakshmi is. She is the mysterious woman that Dinesh, the protagonist, is searching for.
Saithan is directed by debutant Pradeep Krishnamurthy, former assistant of Tamil director Vetrimaran.
“Saithan is of a dual genre,” says Krishnamurthy, who made a few documentaries for Sun TV before venturing into feature films.
“The first half is a psychological thriller and then turns into an action story.”
Antony plays the lead role of Dinesh, a software professional. The video of Saithan shows Dinesh consulting a psychologist who then takes him on a hypnotic journey into his past where Dinesh is searching for Jayalakshmi, a teacher.
Krishnamurthy says that the idea for this psychological thriller occurred to him during the filming of Ellorum Innattu Mannar, a film about the troubles of marginalised people.
He was shooting in Kodaikanal for a segment about people who make a living by retrieving the bodies of dead people, mostly suicide victims who jump to their death from the hills there.
Arundhati Nair makes her debut opposite Antony as Aishwarya, Dinesh’s wife. The supporting cast includes Y.G. Mahendran, Charu Hasan, Raja Krishnamurthy, Meera Krishnan and Murugadas. Antony has scored the soundtrack and also produced Saithan, which releases in the UAE on December 1.
Saithan’s Telugu version is titled Bethaludu.
