Anniyan
File:Anniyan DVD cover.jpg poster
Directed by	S. Shankar
Produced by	Venu Ravichandran
Written by	Sujatha Rangarajan
Screenplay by	S. Shankar
Story by	S. Shankar
Starring	Vikram Sadha Prakash Raj Vivek
Music by	Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography	V. Manikandan Ravi Varman
Editing by	V. T. Vijayan
Studio	Oscar Films
Distributed by	Oscar Films Ayngaran International Columbia TriStar
Release date(s)	June 18, 2005 (2005-06-18TWorldwide)
Running time	180 minutes
Country	‹See Tfd› India
Language	Tamil
Budget	26.5 crore (US$5.29 million)[1]
Box office	57 crore (US$11.37 million)[2]

Anniyan (Tamil: அந்நியன்; English: Stranger) is a 2005 Tamil psychological thriller film directed by S. Shankar. The film stars Vikram, Sadha, Prakash Raj, and Vivek, while featuring background score and soundtrack composed by Harris Jayaraj. The film was released worldwide on 10 June 2005.

The film took over two years to complete and was the most expensive South Indian feature film during the time of release.^[3] The film was dubbed into Hindi as Aparichit: The Stranger, in Telugu as Aparichithudu, and was also the first Indian film to be dubbed into French.^[4] It was produced and distributed in India by Venu Ravichandran.

Plot [link]

Ambi is an innocent and honest lawyer. If he comes across anyone not obeying the law, he files cases against them. His regular habit to be perfect in rules and honesty leads him to develop a Multiple Personality Disorder in which a new personality in him grows as Anniyan, a grim reaper-themed killer. Anniyan is violent and deranged, and Ambi has no clue that such a monster exists within him. Anniyan kills lawbreakers by methods used for torturing people in hell. He targets and kills three people during his first few forays, for illegal or anti-social acts:

• A man (Cochin Haneefa) who did not stop to save a person in critical condition. Anniyan forces a herd of buffaloes to stampede him to death.

• A chef who fails to provide decent food for railway passengers. Anniyan tosses him into a pot of oil and fries him to death. The chef was the older brother of DCP Prabhakar (Prakash Raj).

• A factory owner (Saurabh Shukla) sends a group of thugs to kill Ambi, but this triggers Anniyan, who ties the owner to a tree and dumps leeches onto his body. Meanwhile, DCP Prabhakar and Chary (Vivek), a friend of Ambi, are after this mystery murderer.

Ambi is in love with Nandhini (Sadha), a music teacher. After she rejects him, he attempts suicide, but is saved when a third personality comes to life within him. This persona, a suave fashion model named "Remo" woos Nandhini as a different person. Nandhini instantly falls for Remo. Later, Nandhini acquires land, but tries to cheat the government out of taxes. Anniyan goes after her, trying to kill her, but reverts back to Ambi, who falls unconscious. He is admitted to a hospital where he is diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Ambi then reveals a dark secret from his past: When he was a young boy, he witnessed the tragic death of his sister. The doctor (Nassar) concludes that the death of Ambi's sister resulted in the development of this psychological disorder. According to the doctor, Remo will cease to exist only if Nandhini accepts Ambi's love. However, Anniyan will cease to exist only when the country is reformed. Nandhini eventually accepts Ambi's love and Remo disappears.

The police investigate the murders, and evidence points to Ambi, who is arrested. During an interrogation, DCP Prabhakar engages in a fight with Ambi, who constantly changes personalities between Ambi and Anniyan. The fight is captured on the security camera and is used as evidence for Ambi's sentence. He is sentenced to two years of psychological treatment after which, if he is cured, he will be released.

When he is released, he relapses after a man refuses to stop drinking in the presence of women. Ambi does not respond to this situation, which convinces Nandhini that Ambi has changed, and there will be no more reoccurrences of Anniyan. She calls up the doctor and informs this to him, but when she returns to the seat, Ambi is missing. She finds him near the compartment door, looking outside. He has killed the man by throwing him out of the train, hiding the crime from Nandhini, thus proving that instead of eradicating Anniyan, he has been able to successfully blend the personalities of Ambi, Remo and Anniyan into one.

Cast [link]

• Vikram as Rules Ramanujam 'Ambi' Iyengar / Remo / Anniyan
• Sadha as Nandhini Krishna
• Vivek as Chari Singari
• Prakash Raj as DCP Prabhakar
• Nassar as the psychiatrist
• Nedumudi Venu as Parthasarathy
• Cochin Haneefaas The Person Who Stops His New Car
• Shanmugha Rajan as Chockalingam (Chokas Ram in Hindi Version)
• Saurabh Shukla as Cable Company Owner
• Mohan Vaidya
• Kalabhavan Mani as House Owner (cameo)
• Charle as Wastrel
• Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan in a special appearance
• Yana Gupta in a special appearance

Production [link]

The launch of the film was held at AVM Studios in Vadapalani, Chennai on March 4, 2004 with the attendance of the cast and crew. At the event, Shankar revealed that the film would take six months to make and suggested that the film would be released during the Diwali season of 2004, which ultimately was missed by close to nine months.^[5][6] The first schedule took place in Amsterdam, Netherland with the filming of a song – "Kumaari" – in the backdrop of a large flower garden in Vijfhuizen. The team initially hoped to film two songs in Netherlands, but were denied by authorities to shoot at a song at Keukenhof after a previous film crew had damaged the habitat.^[7] Shankar did not want Vikram to reveal his look for the film to the public and despite Vikram's success at the National Film Awards, he was prohibited from meeting the media.^[8] In October 2004, cinematographer Manikandan left the project citing date problems and was thus replaced by Ravi Varman.^[9] A ten day shoot was held in Mumbai for a song featuring Hindi actress Yana Gupta, with producers initially hiding her identity to create suspense.^[10][11]

Release [link]

Produced on a budget of Rs 27 crores,^[3] the film was declared a commercial success, grossing Rs. 70 crores from both Tamil and dubbed Telugu version and becoming the year's second highest grossing Tamil film.^[2] It was funded by IDBI to the tune of Rs 8.5 crores and insured for Rs 29 crores to mitigate risk of failure. The producer was the sole distributor of the film. He recovered Rs 13 crores in advance from exhibitors as Minimum Guarantee before the completion of the project. By cutting off the middlemen thus, the profitability of the project was secured.

The film released with 110 prints in Andhra Pradesh^[12] and this film completed 100 days in 38centers at all over Andhra pradesh and it become a great sensation big hit. and in 35 cinema halls across Kerala.^[13] The film was simultaneously released in Tamil and dubbed into Telugu (as Aparachithudu). It was later dubbed into Hindi as Aparachit – The Stranger which made $500,000.^[14] The film collected Rs 52 crores in Tamil Nadu, Rs 15 crores in Andhra Pradesh and Rs 7.5 crores in Kerala and the rest from other parts of India and overseas.

Soundtrack [link]

The soundtrack's composed by Harris Jayaraj got very good critical and commercial response and received several awards including Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director and Filmfare Best Music Director Award.^[15][16]

• The song 'Kannum Kannum Nokiya' was shot in Kuala Lumpur Airport (KLIA) and Petronas Twin Towers.
• The film has a sequence featuring the Thiruvaiyaar music festival. Well known exponents like Kunnakudi R Vaidhyanathan, Sudha Raghunathan and Unnikrishnan appear in the scene, which is a recreation of the real festival.

Awards [link]

Anniyan received 8 out of 15 awards at the 2006 Filmfare Awards South, the most ever by any Tamil film.^[17]

2006 Filmfare Awards South

• Won – Best Film – Anniyan
• Won – Best Director – S. Shankar
• Won – Best Actor – Vikram
• Won – Best Music Director – Harris Jayaraj
• Won – Best Art Director – Sabu Cyril
• Won – Best Action Director – Peter Hein
• Won – Best Lyricist – Vairamuthu
• Won – Best Cinematographer – Ravi Varman and V.Manikandan

2006 National Film Award

• Won – Silver Lotus Award for Best Special Effects – Tata Elxsi

2006 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• Won - Best Music Director - Harris Jayaraj

Themes [link]

The film features comedy portions by Vivek regarding the anagrams of the Sanskrit words that denote the punishments. Even the titles shown in the beginning of the film slide with quicker animation of their anagrams. Another example is, during the intermission of the film, the word "TENSIONRISM" morphs into the word "INTERMISSION".

This film can be closely related to one of Shankar's previous features, Indian. Both movies have similar names in pronunciation, and both movies involve the main character rooting out the corrupt elements of India, due to corruption causing the death of the main character's close family member. The main character also gains popularity amongst the public, and shows one of his murders on live TV.

Another noticeable Shankar feature in both films is the portrayal of some elements from ancient Hinduism. In Indian, the ancient Varmam art was explored, while in this film, the texts from Garuda Puranam are emphasized for the punishments.

Influences [link]

Influences from S. Shankar's other popular films like Gentleman and Kadhalan have been noted. The plot also borrows elements from Sidney Sheldon's Tell Me Your Dreams. The use of the time-slice method in the film, as with The Matrix films and earlier used by Shankar in his film Mudhalvan/Nayak shot by cinematographer V.Manikandan proved popular with the audience. Shankar used 17 cameras for a special action sequence and imported fighters as well as martial artists from all over the state were used in the multi-opponent fight scene. The special effects were provided by Big Freeze, a department based in London. Art direction for the film was provided by Sabu Cyril. In this film, the hero suffers from multiple personality disorder which was inspired from the English movie Primal Fear.

References [link]

External links [link]

• Anniyan at the Internet Movie Database