Visaranai

Visaranai
Theatrical release poster
Directed byVetrimaaran
Screenplay byVetrimaaran
Based onLock Up
by M. Chandrakumar
Produced byDhanush
StarringDinesh
Anandhi
Samuthirakani
Murugadoss
S Rathnasamy
Kishore
Pradheesh Raj
CinematographyS. Ramalingam
Edited byKishore Te.
Co-editor
G. B. Venkatesh
Music byG. V. Prakash Kumar
Production
companies
Distributed byLyca Productions
Release dates
  • 12 September 2015 (2015-09-12) (Venice)
  • 5 February 2016 (2016-02-05) (India)
Running time
118 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Budget₹1 crore
Box office₹11 crore

Visaranai (transl. Interrogation) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film written and directed by Vetrimaaran. It is based on the novel Lock Up by M. Chandrakumar. The film stars Dinesh, Anandhi, Samuthirakani, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Kishore, Pradheesh Raj, and Silambarasan Rathnasamy. The film deals with the lives of two men before and after being thrown into a kafkaesque[1] scenario in which they get tortured for confession. Vetrimaaran later told that, in the beating sequences in the film, the actors were really beaten (which was criticized by some of the foreign media and a member of Golden Globes during the film's Oscar campaign), and all of them had to undergo counselling sessions.[2][3]

The film premiered in the Orrizonti (Horizons) section of the 72nd Venice Film Festival,[4] where it won the Amnesty International Italia Award.[5] The film was released in India on 5 February 2016 and received highly positive reviews from both critics and audience alike.[6][7] Many issues arose regarding the film in Tamil Nadu among the police force.[8] At the 63rd National Film Awards, the film won three honours: Best Feature Film in Tamil, Best Supporting Actor for Samuthirakani and Best Editing for Kishore Te. It was selected as India's official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards[9] but it was not nominated.[10][11][12] At the 64th Filmfare Awards South, the film was nominated for the Best Film, Best Director for Vetrimaaran and won the award for the Best Supporting Actor for Samuthirakani.[13]

  1. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "What makes something "Kafkaesque"? - Noah Tavlin". YouTube.
  2. ^ "Visaaranai: Vetrimaaran reveals why the actors had to undergo counselling during the film". India Today. 2 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Why Vetrimaaran is the most interesting director in Tamil films today". www.hindustantimes.com. Hindustan Times.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference huffington was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Collateral Awards of the 72nd Venice Film Festival". Venice Biennale. 12 September 2015.
  6. ^ KollyTalk (25 January 2014). "'Visaranai release postponed to Feb 5th". KollyTalk.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  7. ^ "'Soodhadi' with Dhanush, another with Dinesh: Vetrimaran Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India". The Times of India. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Sagayam take on police creates stir". Times of India. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (22 September 2016). "India Puts 'Interrogation' Into Foreign-Language Oscars Contention". Variety. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  10. ^ "9 Foreign Language films advance in Oscar race". Oscars. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  11. ^ Dave, McNary (15 December 2016). "Oscars: Nine Films Advance in Foreign-Language Race". Variety. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  12. ^ "'Visaranai' falls out of the Oscar race". Times of India. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).