Apsara is a single mother under a lot of debt and tries to make a living by acting in adverts and lives with her friend Swathi who is an assistant director. Swathi’s current project dwells around the character of ‘Maya’, based on one of the inmates of an asylum in the woods outside of Chennai and about the rumours about mysterious deaths around the asylum ever since Maya died decades ago. When Apsara gets to watch the movie as part of a publicity contest that will test the fear factor, her life changes by the surreal experience that she never expected.
Language:
Tamil
Running Time:
140 min
Rating:
U/A
Release date:
17 September 2015
Directed by:
Ashwin Saravanan
Produced by:
Potential Studios
Written by:
Ashwin Saravanan
Starring:
Nayantara
Aari Bhagavathi
Amzath Khan
Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli
Robo Shankar
Mime Gopi
Sharreth Vasudevan
Music by:
Ron Ethan Yohaan
Shot by:
Sathyan Sooryan
Editing by:
T. S. Suresh
Distributed by:
Sri Thenandal Films

What’s Hot

  • Predominantly shot in low-lit indoor locations or night-lit forests, the eeriness is upheld to good effect by Sathyan Sooryan’s lens work. The use of differentiation by showing Apsara’s story in color and the parallel story of the investigating journalists in monochrome turns out to be a good touch as we get to see how the two stories are merged.
  • Ashwin Saravanan’s writing is the most important aspect of the movie that helps to keep the audience engaged to the story among the countless scare moments interspersed in the proceedings. The customary flashback is avoided in a welcome move and the creative collaboration of the two parallel stories based on a common ground is a huge positive.
  • Supporting actors Amzath Khan, Mime Gopi and LakshmiPriya Chanrdamouli put up a very competitive show to match the performances of the dynamic personality of Nayanthara and the impressive Aari. The fact that each character has equal footing in the story has helped each of them to showcase their talent at acting.
  • The sound design is of an elite level throughout the movie. The close encounters with the spirits have limited, yet meaningful use of sounds in the background that help to elevate the levels of anxiety with the audience.

What’s Not

  • Few instances of intent to scare the audience for no reason could have been avoided as the movie is already faring great in doing that. Jarring sounds for switching off lights in a preview theatre and so forth, the exaggeration is blatant at a few places.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Opening with an exceptionally conceived base story of a haunted place, the nifty writing and creative screenplay produce an effectively engaging and petrifying experience, making ‘Maya’ quite possibly the best you would have seen for a long time with frights aplenty!