Filmmaker Athiyan Athirai looks content as he graciously takes feedback for his latest film, Thandakaaranyam, from an eager crowd after a special screening. One can understand the relief he must feel, for his ambitious sophomore is releasing six long years after his debut,Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu. His smile when I ask him the reason behind the delay tells me that perhaps this has been a recurring question of late. “I got many opportunities immediately after the release of Gundu. In fact, I was in talks with a big hero at that point, but by the time I finished preparing a script, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Then that hero already had four to five films in the line-up that were delayed due to the pandemic, so I had to move on.” Athiyan then spent the next two years working on Thandakaaranyam. “I prepared the story, did extensive field work, met specific sources, did a recce in multiple states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Kerala, and then started production.”
What must surprise one is the time Athiyan took for the principal photography — merely 38 days — for a film extensively shot in multiple landscapes with a host of actors. The story of the film, narrating a tribal man’s long and gruelling journey from a forest in Tamil Nadu to an unforgiving paramilitary training camp in Jharkhand, spans multiple locations, landscapes and features a big ensemble of actors. “This was possible only because of the extensive pre-production work. We had to rehearse for three months. From the military drills to the physical training of the actors, everything had to be done beforehand, because we had to shoot in the forests and in many locations. We had to be conscious of our actors’ call sheets and the budget,” says Athiyan.
Athiyan Athirai, Kalaiyarasan and Vinsu Sam on the sets of ‘Thandakaaranyam’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
A huge backbone for the film has been the trust that producer Pa Ranjith of Neelam Productions placed in Athiyan. Thandakaaranyam is Athiyan’s second film with Ranjith, and the director is glad about the production evolution over the last six years. “Back then, Neelam used to produce only one film at a time, but now, they have multiple films in production simultaneously. They are taking on both small and big stories, but their stand remains that the content should be good.”
In one of the most tender moments of the film, Vinsu Sam’s Priya asks her lover, the protagonist Murugan (played by Kalaiyarasan), if they could shed all their clothing in the thick of the forest and promenade on shallow waters until they reach the end of the forest. “What happens at the end of the forest?” he asks, to which she says, “Beyond the forest is the town, the human civilisation which would compel us to put back all that we had shed, clothes, our identity, gender and so on.” A thought-provoking dialogue, the allegory leaves a mark for how elegantly it is put across.
Athiyan Athirai, Kalaiyarasan and Dinesh on the sets of ‘Thandakaaranyam’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
“That captures the lifestyle of tribals. For them, nudity isn’t taboo. There’s a tribal custom in which, after a couple gets married, they would declare in front of the whole town that they would spend the night in the forest. Under the glow of the moon, they would roam around the forest nude, bathe in the river, consummate their marriage, and so on. Only when outsiders from the plains started encroaching on the forests did they stop following this custom. So, it is we who imposed our moral codes upon them,” explains Athiyan, before pondering over what clothes denote in human civilisation. “In today’s time, it denotes social status, caste, creed, identity, pride, and so on. We can’t go back to that past — when we were all nude and yet lived with something resembling equality — but we can go forward, to create a civilisation where we are all equal. So it’s all that baggage that causes depression, instils hatred and violence, and so on. So to live without any of that baggage is the norm. That’s how we were for millions of years; all this caste and creed came about less than 5,000 years ago.”
Vinsu Sam and Kalaiyarasan in a still from ‘Thandakaaranyam’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Another creative choice that leaves a mark is how Athiyan lets a piece of oppari score speak for itself, without any visuals, when the introduction credits are displayed. “My assistants suggested we have an animation for the opening credits, but in that case, I would have to create a piece of music that would fit that art. By playing it over the black screen, I am allowing the audience to imagine their own visuals.” Athiyan relied on the film’s composer, Justin Prabhakar, to come up with a score that could prepare the audience and welcome them into the forest musically.
Athiyan is candid about the scepticism that audiences might have about the film seeming too similar to recent Tamil films like Taanakkaran and Viduthalai — especially because it speaks of the politics and hardship a common man faces inside a training camp. “While writing , I was conscious that my film shouldn’t remind the audiences of those films, because that would distract them from being immersed in the story. So, I was conscious of sourcing information that wasn’t mentioned in any of those films. It’s upon me to ensure the way I stage my scenes is unique and interesting,” he says, adding that the anecdotes he collected from this research were so unique that he knew his narrative would inherently stand apart.
Dinesh, Athiyan Athirai and Riythvika on the sets of ‘Thandakaaranyam’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Before we sign off, I ponder if he was ever worried about how a section of naysayers — internet trolls who might criticise a piece of art even before consuming it whole — would brand the film pro-Naxalite. . After all, without the necessary nuance and context, it would be easy for them to put down Thandakaaranyam as a film that whitewashes Naxalites. “No. I am just telling a story about a man and the people he encountered in his life. He wants to protect his country, but foxes, also claiming to protect the country, misuse their authority and position, and even threaten the very same security that all claim to guard, all for their own greed. So while I am sure there might be people who will jump to conclusions and criticise it, I am confident that they will like my film if they watch it.”
Thandakaaranyam is currently running in theatres
Published – September 22, 2025 04:02 pm IST
