Make way for the first ever Tamil zombie film 'Miruthan' starring Jayam Ravi, Lakshmi Menon

Will Kollywood go under the zombie attack? The first zombie thriller in Tamil cinema, Miruthan is making waves even before its release on February 19. The film has the current hot and happening hero Jayam Ravi, and Lakshmi Menon in the lead and it is directed by Sakthi Soundar Rajan. While, the trailer of the film created quite a buzz, it was censored last week with an A certificate for its content. There has been quite a bit of interest in supernatural thrillers in Tamil cinema, and therefore it seems like Miruthan will open big. Last year’s most profitable film was choreographer-turned-actor/director Raghavendra Lawrence’s horror-comedy Kanchana 2. The film, and its dubbed version in Telugu, became a runaway summer blockbuster and grossed over Rs 100 Crore worldwide from theatricals. [caption id=“attachment_2619970” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A youtube screen grab of Miruthan.[/caption] In the last one year alone, there have been 20 or more films in Tamil in the horror comedy genre. Most of these films dealt with subject of ghosts and other supernatural element, but laced with comedy. The horror comedy formula is to make the audience terrified and at the same time make them laugh out loud. And last week’s horror comedy release Aranmanai 2 also went on to become a hit. Now all eyes are on Miruthan, which means “walking corpse” in Tamil. The film’s director Sakthi Soundar Rajan expalins, “ In Hollywood, zombie films is a genre that has a loyal following among horror film addicts and I believe there are more than 500 films within it. Miruthan is something different for the Tamil audiences and has about 1500 shots of CG work. It is aimed to be a slick films with a running time under two hours.” Meanwhile, the lead actor Jayam Ravi is peeved that the film got an A certificate. In Tamil Nadu, films with U certificate that approved by a committee set up by the Jayalalithaa government, are eligible for entertainment tax exemption. The makers have now approached the Revising Committee to get at least a UA certificate, which will make it TV friendly. At a time when the satellite market is at an all time low, Sun TV, the market leader in Tamil Nadu, has snapped Miruthan rights for a whopping Rs 7 Crore. Speaking exclusively to Firstpost, Jayam Ravi, who is currently among the top five Tamil heroes, said, “ I play a ordinary traffic cop in the film set against the picturesque backdrop of Ooty and Lakshmi Menon plays a doctor. Our lives intervene as the story takes some intriguing twists and turns. I can’t reveal more but I can assure it will be a totally different type of experience for the viewers. Miruthan also shows man made environmental pollution as a major problem.” Miruthan’s theatrical distribution areas have been sold before release, creating a lot of hype in the trade. If the thriller turns out to be a hit, industry pundits are predicting a Zombie invasion in Kollywood. Watch the trailer here: