SPB Charan’s Aaranya Kaandam produced by his Capital Film Works starring Jackie Shroff, Ravi Krishna, Sampath Raj, and Yasmin Ponnapa is creating ripples in a big way on the International film circuit and is due for a big US release on June 10th. It is the first Tamil film to receive such recognition even before the official release. Its IMDB (Internet Movie Database) rating is 7.1/10!
Aaranya Kaandam won the Grand Jury award at the prestigious South Asian International Film Festival. The film also has the honor of being the first Tamil film to be reviewed by the New York Times under the name Anima and Persona. Debutant director Thiagarajan Kumararaja is coming in for a lot of praise as is Yuvan Shankar Raja for his rousing background score.
Almost three years after work began on the film, the cast and crew of Aaranya Kaandam will be reaping the rewards of their hard work and faith in the film. A huge legal battle ensued when the censors demanded 52 cuts from the film on the grounds of profanity, violence, and depiction of substance abuse. SPB Charan had to move to a tribunal in New Delhi to appeal his case. He won the case after a long struggle and Aaranya Kaandam was cleared for release with an A certificate.
The icing on the cake is that the film has been nominated for the Melbourne and Sydney Film Festival. It is starting to look like a surefire hit and will also be a favorite with juries across the world. A triumph for the entire Tamil film industry indeed!
