South has been the source and summit of VFX, and yet another project has emerged with a new phase of prosthetics and imagery. Miruthan, known to be by far the first Tamil Zombie film, focuses on a unique concept in terms of script and visual effects to bring alive the characters.
Directed by Shakti Soundar Rajan who has been a predominant face in Tamil cinema because of his recent Naaigal Jaakirathai (2014), this film has experimented the concept of zombies in a basic daily story. Shakti Rajan has been known to add some distinct features in his film as his last film consisted of a Belgian Shepherd dog in the lead and now a gang of zombies in Miruthan.
The film stars Jayam Ravi and Lakshmi Menon both who have set a mark in the Tamil film industry with their earlier works. Ravi Mohan who has a stage name- ‘Jayam Ravi’ is phenomenal for his action stunts and this film too demands a lot of action from him as he battles the zombies single handedly. Lakshmi Menon, on the other hand, has created an impression of being the fastest rising star in Tamil cinema.
As there are zombies, the film needs to be dominated by visual effects, prosthetics, texturing and character development. Lorven Studios, based in Hyderabad and a division of Hollywood FX Studios, have worked on the VFX for this film. And the trailer reveals visual effects in terms of blasts, make up and characterisation of zombies with eyes and skin creation. Various fight and attack sequences of the zombies denote the work that has gone into transforming humans into dreaded creatures with a lot of focus on rotoscopy, painting and texturing.
Not much is revealed about the plot, it seems that Jayam is seen as a traffic policeman who may or may not turn into a zombie. Also, there is a glitch at the scientific lab at Coimbatore which leads to the creation of zombies. And once zombies are created, it is difficult to stop them as they are ‘Living Dead’ creatures controlled by an evil instinct which may trigger their might to any extent.
Unfortunately, the trailer hardly has any prolonged scenes of zombies. The first Bollywood Zombie film Go Goa Gone which though was a huge failure had commendable work in terms of zombie creation, prosthetics and make up. While, Shaun of the Dead and the original Dawn of the Dead have paved the way by creating VFX and crisp prosthetics at another tangent altogether.
Miruthan, being the first Tamil Zombie film should probably unveil an in depth work on prosthetics in order to stand in the race against these competitors. But as it is South which is known for creation of huge hits like I, Enthiran and Baahubali: The Beginning, this film may surprise the audience in its own style. As of now, the fact that it has roped in the concept of zombies and taken the risk to fabricate something new is enough to create a place in history.
Produced by S. Michael Rayappan with Global Infotainment as the production house and Sony Music holding the music label, Miruthan still has its release dates under wraps as the VFX needs to be completed with undue perfection.