KOTTUKKAALI

Director PS Vinothraj and main actress Anna Ben and main actor Soori are available for interviews in Berlin.

KOTTUKKAALI (THE ADAMANT GIRL) written and directed by PS Vinothraj is celebrating its world premiere in the Forum section at the Berlin International Film Festival 2024. It is the first Tamil film world premiering at the Berlinale Forum.

KOTTUKKAALI (THE ADAMANT GIRL), based on the director’s personal experiences, is about the injustice and abuse suffered by young women through the shamanic practice of „Mugamaathu“, which means „erasing the face“. It is used throughout India under various names in the name of caste pride. When a female family member falls in love with a man of an oppressed caste, her family believes that she is possessed by his love spell and seeks help from a distant village shaman to make her forget him. The practice is a reflection of the dangerous influence that caste, religion and chauvinism have on an average Indian families and women in particular.

SYNOPSIS

When a 21-year-old girl falls in love with a boy from an oppressed caste, her infuriated family believes that she is possessed by his love spell. They ruthlessly drag her to a distant village shaman to break the spell and erase all her memories of him until she forgets his face by performing witchcraft and sacrificing a rooster. The girl’s innocent future is now dictated by the violent misogynistic patriarchs and their regressive ideologies. This one-day travel exposes the dangerous influence of caste, religion and chauvinism on an average Indian family. Will the girl and the rooster survive this lunacy or will they be victims to their belief system?

PS Vinothraj (*1988) is a filmmaker from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. His debut feature “Pebbles” (Koozhangal) won the main competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2021 with praises from the jury members and critics. Inspired by his personal life, the film is a portrait of the patience and hard work of women keeping their families from falling apart. Set against the dry strip of land in south Tamilnadu, isolated from any major income sources, “Pebbels” tells the story of an alcoholic abusive father who drags out his young son from school and embarks on a journey to fetch back his wife who had left him after a night of abuse.

The main roles are played by Anna Ben and Soori. Anna Ben is an Indian actress mainly working in South Indian Cinema and is the daughter of screenwriter Benny P. Nayarambalam (“Welcome to Central Jail”, “Velipadinte Pusthakam”) and made her acting debut with “Kumbalangi Nights” in 2019, followed by critically acclaimed films like “Helen” (2019) and “Kappela” (2020). She has won the Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention (“Helen”, 2019) and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress (“Kappela”, 2020).

Ramalakshmanan Muthuchamy, professionally known as Soori, is an Indian actor and comedian who predominantly appears in Tamil film productions with a track record of more than 80 films. His debut film as Protagonist „Viduthalai“ (2023), has screened in the Limelight section at the prestigious International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR (2024), while his latest film, „Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai“ (2024), has also been selected and screened at the esteemed Big Screen Competition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam IFFR (2024).

KOTTUKKAALI (THE ADAMANT GIRL) is produced by Sivakarthikeyan and co-produced by Kalai Arasu P under SIVAKARTHIKEYAN PRODUCTIONS LLP based in Chennai, India. The company’s slate consists of many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films such as “Kanaa“ (Arunraja Kamaraj, 2018), “Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja“ (Karthik Venugopalan, 2019), and “Vaazhl“ (Arun Prabhu, 2021). “Doctor“ (Nelson Dilipkumar, 2021) was one of the biggest blockbuster hits of 2021 and was listed in Netflix’s Global Top 10 for weeks, and also the company’s latest release, “Don“ (Cibi Chakaravarthi, 2022), reached no.3 in Netflix’s Global Top 10.

100 min. / India 2024 / Color / Feature

Production Company:
Sivakarthikeyan Productions LLP
37/11, Diamond Gate Apartments,
Habibullah Road, T. Nagar
600017 Chennai
Tamil Nadu, India

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