Local Tamil film ‘Athigaari’ arrives just in time for Deepavali

Athigaari centres on a police investigation of a series of murders. Photo: Astro

Another Malaysian film has opted to skip theatrical release to go straight to the on-demand channel.

Tamil movie Athigaari, described as a suspense thriller, was originally scheduled for cinema release in March. It now premieres on Astro First (Ch 480) on Nov 11.

The film's producer Nanthini Ganesan has decided to forgo cinema release and make it available for audiences at home in time for Deepavali, making Athigaari the first local Tamil film to land on this channel.

Directed by Kabilan Plondran (Jhangri), it revolves around a police investigation on a series of murders and the hunt for the killer. A policeman looking into the case has to somehow get through to a victim’s daughter, who has become uncommunicative due to the trauma of witnessing the murder.

It stars Bala Ganapathi William, Karnan Kanapathy, Nanthini Ganasen and Sasikumar Kandasamy.

According to Nanthini, the film is inspired by real events.

She said in a press statement: “This film is sure to appeal to all Malaysians across ages and races. One of the unique aspects of this film is that the main character communicates using sign language.

“We hope this film will receive support from audiences, which will continue to encourage the production of more local Tamil films.”