Niram trailer out: a crime thriller from true incidents

The trailer and audio for Niram are out, launched in front of the film’s cast, crew and the press, and the reception in the room was the kind first-time directors hope for. Balaram Krishna directs, D. Imman scores, and K Square Cinemas produces. The tagline on the poster does a lot of the positioning work: Inspired from True Incidents.

What the trailer sets up is a pattern rather than a single case. Women keep going missing, the circumstances keep looking unrelated, and one thread runs through all of it. Mugen Rao plays the man pulling on that thread, and the cut moves fast enough to suggest the film is more interested in the chase than in easing you into it. Preethi Asrani plays one of the women who disappears, and holds her own in captivity rather than being written as a victim to be recovered.

Balaram Krishna, standing in front of a room as a director for the first time, went straight to what the title is doing. “Niram is not an ordinary title,” he said. “Every person’s state of mind and character keeps changing according to the situation they are in. Those changes are the central idea of this film.” He called it a crime investigation thriller and said every scene, every song and every character had been built for the story rather than around it. “I waited many years for this opportunity,” he said, thanking the family, friends and producers who backed him. “I hand this film over to you believing that people will always welcome good content.”

D. Imman said the pitch landed on the first hearing. “The moment I heard the story I knew there was a different kind of crime thriller in it,” he said. “Balaram Krishna has worked with the clarity of an experienced director on his very first film.” He picked out the lyricists Viveka and Pa. Vijay and editor V. J. Sabu Joseph by name, and asked audiences to see the film in a cinema and give the crew’s work its due.

Mugen Rao is back as a lead in Tamil after a gap, and framed the shoot as one where he was given room. “He built every scene with a lot of care, and during the shoot he gave us plenty of freedom to bring the characters out properly,” he said of the director. Working in a D. Imman score, he added, was something he had wanted for a while.

Tanya Hope thanked Balaram Krishna and Nitin Sathyaa, who brought her onto the film, and credited Shankar master’s choreography for the song she features in. Nitin Sathyaa, who plays the antagonist, described the film as one that came out of a friendship. “I have known Balaram Krishna for years, so on this film I was not only an actor but a coordinator on several fronts,” he said. “You would never guess this is a first film.”

The music got its own share of the afternoon. Srinisha, who sang Noothana with Kapilan, called it her favourite melody among the many she has recorded for D. Imman, and said he runs a session fast and easy on his singers. Pravasthi, from Hyderabad, said Noothana marks her first Tamil film song after singing on Tamil reality shows as a child. Choreographer Sai Bharathi, who worked on the same track, said the Kodaikanal schedule was the one she will not forget.

Santonio Terzio is the cinematographer and V. J. Sabu Joseph the editor, with stunts by Dhinesh Subbarayan, art direction by Dhamodharan, lyrics by Pa. Vijay and Viveka, sound by Udhayakumar and choreography by Shankar and Sai Bharathi. K. Bindu Madhavi produces under K Square Cinemas, a unit of K Square Ventures, with P. Rajesh as co-producer. The soundtrack is out on Z Music Co.

The team says the release date will be announced officially soon.