Imaikkaa Nodigal

Imaikkaa Nodigal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byR. Ajay Gnanamuthu
Written byR. Ajay Gnanamuthu
Pattukkottai Prabakar (dialogue)
Produced byC. J. Jayakumar
StarringNayanthara
Atharvaa
Raashii Khanna
Anurag Kashyap
CinematographyR. D. Rajasekhar
Edited byBhuvan Srinivasan
Music byHiphop Tamizha
Production
companies
Cameo Films
Drumsticks Productions
Release date
  • 30 August 2018 (2018-08-30)
Running time
170 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Imaikkaa Nodigal (transl. Unblinking Seconds) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu. It stars Nayanthara, Atharvaa, Raashii Khanna marking the latter's debut in Tamil cinema and Anurag Kashyap with Baby Manasvi, Vinoth Kishan, Ramesh Thilak, Devan and others in supporting roles, while Vijay Sethupathi has an extended cameo. The film focuses on how a serial killer is apprehended by a CBI officer.

Filming took place between October 2016 and December 2017. The music was composed by Hiphop Tamizha, cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar, editing by Bhuvan Srinivasan, and produced by C. J. Jayakumar. Imaikkaa Nodigal received a theatrical release on 30 August 2018.

Plot

A serial killer disrupts peace in Bengaluru by kidnapping, where he goes by the name of the highly notorious serial killer Rudra, who was announced dead five years ago. After another such case, in which the CBI are involved, he declares himself to be alive and not dead. Anjali Vikramadithyan IPS, who dealt with the earlier case of Rudra, is re-appointed to deal with him.

In Chennai, Anjali's brother Arjun, who is an MBBS doctor is facing a rough time in his relationship with Krithika Rao, by accusing her of cheating, and she eventually breaks up with him. To make it up to her, he and his two year distant friend, Vinoth, travel to Bengaluru to meet her. The cat-and-mouse game between Rudra and Anjali becomes intense when Rudra brings Arjun into the game by kidnapping Krithika and demanding a ransom from her father. In an effort to save Krithika, Arjun follows Rudra's orders and gets framed as Rudra, making things much more complicated for him. Anjali is suspended and her family gets placed under house arrest, while Inspector Narayan takes over the case.

After a series of clues, Arjun deduces that former ACP Martin Roy is Rudra. He fights with Martin, only to get injured. Martin reveals that five years ago Rudra was actually Anjali. Feeling betrayed that he was suspended from the case having come so close to cracking it, Martin went rogue, murdered his wife, and staged three murders of high profile people, similar to the ones that Rudra had done. Meanwhile, Anjali too deduces Martin’s identity as Rudra.

Arjun escapes from Martin’s clutches and confronts Anjali over being Rudra. She reveals that her real motive was to avenge the death of her husband Vikramadithyan, as he, along with Anjali were caught in an accident, caused by four influential drug addicted youngsters who instead of helping them decided to cover up the incident by murdering them and Vikramadithyan was left to die with Anjali. However, a pregnant Anjali survived the accident and gave birth to her daughter Shalini. To seek vengeance for Vikramadithyan's death, Anjali created a serial killer named Rudra and brutally finished those youngsters. After killing the last one, she declares him as Rudra and closes the case.

Arjun feels guilty, not knowing the pain his older sister had suffered. He and Anjali together trap Martin using Narayan. Arjun fights and distracts Martin long enough for Anjali and Narayan to arrive with their force and Narayan shoots Martin dead. Arjun and Krithika reconcile while Anjali and Shalini listen to the recording of her father's last words for her.

Cast

Production

Development

In mid-2016, R. Ajay Gnanamuthu, who had previously made the successful horror film Demonte Colony agreed to work on a new film starring Atharvaa in the lead role. Initially reported to be a romantic thriller, it was revealed that the film was initially supposed to be made as the director's debut was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.[1] Thereafter, Jayakumar of Cameo Films agreed to finance the venture and revealed that the shoot would begin during September 2016.[2][3] For the technical crew, R. D. Rajasekhar was selected as the cameraman, Selvakumar as the art director, Pattukottai Prabhakar as the dialogue writer and Poorthi Pravin as the costume designer. Only Bhuvan Srinivasan was retained as the film editor, continuing his association with the director. Meanwhile, Hiphop Tamizha was selected to be the music composer, while the film was titled as Imaikka Nodigal during September 2016.[4]

Casting

The team signed actress Nayanthara to play the main female lead role in this project, as Gnanamuthu was looking for a "strong female protagonist", and after hearing the script, the actress immediately agreed to be a part of the venture.[5] For a further role, the team were on the lookout for a "pan-Indian actor" considering Prabhu Deva, Gautham Vasudev Menon, and Anurag Kashyap for the character, and the latter was signed to do antagonist's role. The voice for Anurag was dubbed by director Magizh Thirumeni.[6] Raashii Khanna also signed on to portray another character in the film, and it marking her debut in Tamil cinema, appearing as Atharvaa's love interest, and it had been confirmed that Vijay Sethupathi would be seen playing 15-minute cameo role as Nayanthara's husband.[7][8] Actor Kottachi's daughter, Manasvi, was cast as Nayanthara's daughter.[9]

Filming

Filming began on 21 October 2016.[10] In December 2016, Imaikkaa Nodigal became the first film to be shot inside the tunnel stretch of the Namma Metro, Bengaluru. Filming took place after metro services ceased at 10 PM. According to Jayakumar, "The script of the film demanded shooting in various places of Bengaluru. The crew has been shooting in the city for the last 25 days. In the metro tunnel stretch, and shot scenes for two nights."[11] Lee Hon Yiu, a Cycle stunt specialist from Hong Kong, was brought down to work on a bicycle stunt sequence choreographed by Stunt Siva.[12] This sequence was shot in five days at Bengaluru.[13] Filming ended on 17 December 2017.[14]

Music

Imaikkaa Nodigal
Soundtrack album by
Hiphop Tamizha
Released27 June 2018
Recorded2016–2017
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length24:14
LabelThink Music
ProducerHiphop Tamizha
Hiphop Tamizha chronology
Krishnarjuna Yudham
(2018) 		Imaikkaa Nodigal
(2018) 		Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven
(2019)
External audio
audio icon Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube
audio icon Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube
Singles from Imaikkaa Nodigal
  1. "Kadhalikathey"
    Released: 4 October 2017
  2. "Vilambara Idaivelai"
    Released: 5 March 2018

The musical score and songs featured in the film are composed by Hiphop Tamizha. The album was released on 27 June 2018 alongside the film's trailer.

The first single was released 4 October 2017, titled "Kadhalikathey".[15] Another single "Vilambara Idaivelai" was released on 5 March 2018.[16]

Tamil Track-List
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kadhalikathey"Hiphop TamizhaHiphop Tamizha, Kaushik Krish03:22
2."Vilambara Idaiveli"Kabilan VairamuthuChristopher Stanley, Sudarshan Ashok, Srinisha Jayaseelan, Hiphop Tamizha04:33
3."Neeyum Naanum Anbe"KabilanRaghu Dixit, Sathyaprakash, Jithin Raj04:45
4."Kadhal Oru Aagayam"MohanrajanTeejay Arunasalam, Al-Rufian02:41
5."Lion vs Hyenas"R. Ajay GnanamuthuMagizh Thirumeni02:58
6."Rudra’s Symphony" Hiphop Tamizha02:55
7."Imaikkaa Nodigal (Title Track)"Hiphop TamizhaSanjith Hegde02:55
Total length:24:14
Telugu Track-List
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Nuvvu Nenu Cheri"VanamaliV. Prasanna, Jithin Raj4:43
2."Preminchoddu Manasen"Bandaru HanumaiahJithin Raj3:22
3."Cheli Cheyyi"VanamaliSantosh Hariharan1:29
4."Hyena Story"  1:32
Total length:11:07

Release

Imaikkaa Nodigal was released on 30 August 2018.[17] The satellite rights were sold to Colors Tamil and the Telugu dubbed version titled Anjali CBI was released on 22 February 2019.[18][19]

Critical reception

Thinkal Menon of The Times of India rated the film 3.5/5, stating, "Apart from a few make-believe scenes, the director manages to keep the twists unpredictable and the thrill factor engaging till the end."[20] Priyanka Sundar of Hindustan Times noted, "Nayanthara has succeeded yet again by picking a character that we have never seen her portray. Anjali is not perfect at what she does but her agenda is to catch the killer, played by Anurag Kashyap."[21] Baradwaj Rangan described the film as "A generic, barely watchable serial-killer thriller that squanders a great premise."[22]

Accolades

Award Category Recipient Result
JFW Awards Best Actress in a leading role Nayanthara Nominated
Edison Awards Best Actress Won
Techofes Actor Awards Best Debut Actress Raashii Khanna Won

References

  1. ^ Karthik, Janani (4 June 2016). "Demonte Colony director Ajay's next is a romantic thriller with Atharvaa". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 June 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Athaarvaa teams up with Ajay Gnanamuthu". Sify. 25 June 2016. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Cameo films bags Ajay Gnanamuthu-Atharvaa combo". Ritz. 27 June 2016. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  4. ^ "'Hiphop Tamizha' signs 'Imaikaa Nodigal'". Sify. 26 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Nayanthara signs Ajay Gnanamuthu's 'Imaikkaa Nodigal'". Sify. 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Imaikkaa Nodigal marks Anurag Kashyap's Tamil film debut as an actor; trailer crosses 1 mn views in a day". Firstpost. 29 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. ^ "I don't think Anurag Kashyap knows who he is, says 'Imaikkaa Nodigal' actress Raashi Khanna". The New Indian Express. 4 April 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi shoots for Imaikkaa Nodigal". Cinema Express. 3 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  9. ^ "நயன்தாரா மகளாக நடித்த சுட்டி குழந்தை இந்த காமெடி நடிகரின் மகளாம்!" [The small child who played Nayantara's daughter is the daughter of this comedy actor!]. Samayam (in Tamil). 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  10. ^ Atharvaa [@Atharvaamurali] (21 October 2016). "With all your love & support we kick start my next film titled #ImaikkaNodigal from today! 👍🙏" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025 – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Kidiyoor, Suchith (10 December 2016). "Shooting in the metro tunnel". Bangalore Mirror. Archived from the original on 11 December 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  12. ^ K, Janani (30 June 2017). "A high-octane cycle stunt in Imaikaa..." Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Atharvaa shoots risky cycle stunt". The Times of India. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  14. ^ "'Imaikkaa Nodigal' shoot wrapped up". Sify. 18 December 2017. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  15. ^ Atharvaa [@Atharvaamurali] (4 October 2017). "Here we go. Check out the first single from #ImaikkaaNodigal "Kadhalikathey" @hiphoptamizha 👍😊" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Hiphop Tamizha [@hiphoptamizha] (4 March 2018). "Second single #VilambaraIdaiveli from #ImaikkaaNodigal releasing tomorrow at 5 PM" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 July 2025. Retrieved 12 July 2025 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ "'Imaikkaa Nodigal' censored, to release on August 30!". Sify. 18 August 2018. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  18. ^ "M/S.Drumsticks Productions vs Cameo Films on 2 August, 2019". Indiankanoon.org. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Nayanthara's psychological-thriller 'Imaikkaa Nodigal' as 'Anjali CBI Officer' in Telugu". The Times of India. 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  20. ^ Menon, Thinkal (30 August 2018). "Imaikkaa Nodigal Movie Review". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  21. ^ Sundar, Priyanka (31 August 2018). "Imaikkaa Nodigal movie review: Anurag Kashyap's psychopath powers Nayanthara's cop drama". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  22. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (20 September 2018). ""Imaikkaa Nodigal"… A generic, barely watchable serial-killer thriller that squanders a great premise". Baradwaj Rangan. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
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