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''Achchamundu! Achchamundu!'' ( There is fear! There is fear!) is a 2009 Indian-American
Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pud ...
social thriller directed by
Arun Vaidyanathan Arun Vaidyanathan (born in Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu, India) is an Indian-American film director, producer and screenwriter of feature films, short films and television dramas. He directed his first full-length feature film in Tamil, ''Achchamundu! ...
, starring Prasanna,
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
–winning American actor John Shea and
Sneha Sneha ( hi, स्नेहा) is a popular Hindu Indian feminine given name, which means "Affection". Notable people named Sneha *Sneha (actress) (born 1981), Indian actress in South Indian films - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languag ...
. It is the first film in
Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, K ...
to be shot with the
Red One Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...
camera system. The music was composed by
Karthik Raja Karthik Raja is an India composer based in Chennai, India. He made his debut as film composer in the Tamil film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films. Personal life Karthi ...
with cinematography by Chris Freilich. The film was released on 17 July 2009 worldwide.


Plot

Senthil Kumar ( Prasanna) and Malini (
Sneha Sneha ( hi, स्नेहा) is a popular Hindu Indian feminine given name, which means "Affection". Notable people named Sneha *Sneha (actress) (born 1981), Indian actress in South Indian films - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languag ...
) are a happily married couple in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
, living life like any other born-in-India, arrived-in-the-US couple do. Senthil submerges himself in the office and eats sambar rice at home, and Malini never misses a
bhajan Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means ''reverence'' and originates from the root word ''bhaj'' ...
at the temple and shops at Indian stores. They have a 10-year-old daughter Rithika (Akshaya Dinesh), the apple of their eyes (their car's license plate carries the name of their daughter). The family has just settled down in a new, spacious home about which Malini, understandably, has fears. The couple squabbles amicably about everything from Malini's perpetual laundry and cooking; while Senthil argues with friends about the significance of viboothi and takes his family on weekend trips and birthday parties. It is a normal, happy life in the US until Robertson ( John Shea) arrives, to paint the basement. Now, things are never the same at home again. Robertson's unusually kind behavior towards children sets off warning bells in your head, especially when he is shown to be a pedophile who exercises like mad within the confines of his home, always moving on towards his next target. How the couple saves their child forms the rest of the story.


Cast

* Prasanna as Senthil Kumar * John Shea as Robertson *
Sneha Sneha ( hi, स्नेहा) is a popular Hindu Indian feminine given name, which means "Affection". Notable people named Sneha *Sneha (actress) (born 1981), Indian actress in South Indian films - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languag ...
as Malini * Akshaya Dinesh as Rithika


Production


Title

The film's title is the inverse of the phrase "Achamillai Achamillai" coined by poet
Subramania Bharati C. Subramania Bharathi Birth name: C. Subramaniyan, the person's given name: Subramaniyan, father's given name: Chinnaswami. (C. Subramaniyan by the prevalent patronymic initials as prefix naming system in Tamil Nadu and it is Subramaniyan C ...
, and later used as the title of a 1984 film directed by K. Balachander.


Filming

The film was made in 28 days on a budget of ₹3.25 crore (worth ₹11 crore in 2021 prices). For the first time in Indian cinema,
Red One Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...
camera was used for filming. The film was shot in New Jersey and New York during early 2008. Color correction and sound mixing were done in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
.


Release

The movie was released on 17 July 2009 in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...
and select markets in the United States.


Reception

The film was officially selected for screening at the 12th
Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Ne ...
(under the International Panorama category), the Digital Cinema Film Festival in Japan, the
Cairo International Film Festival The Cairo International Film Festival ( ar, مهرجان القاهرة السينمائي الدولي) is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year sin ...
, the International Film Festival of India in Goa, and the
Chennai International Film Festival The Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) is a festival organised in the city of Chennai, India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second ...
.


Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by
Karthik Raja Karthik Raja is an India composer based in Chennai, India. He made his debut as film composer in the Tamil film ''Pandiyan'' (1992) and went on to score music for many critically and commercially acclaimed feature films. Personal life Karthi ...
.


Reception

''Rediff'' wrote "For the guts in coming up with a unique, important theme that needs to be addressed sensitively, this movie works. A must-watch". ''Behindwoods'' wrote "Although the theme of child abuse is a serious issue and has the potency to take on a different shade with even the slightest skew, Arun Vaidhyanathan has done a tightrope walking commendably with absolutely no shades of vulgarity or impropriety. Kudos for tackling such a sensitive subject with a lot of sensibility and acumen!". ''The Times of India'' wrote "The average Indian may shy away from paedophilia, but director Vaidyanathan makes a compelling case to watch this film. Subtlety is the byword here rather than gory, knife-edge moments. The approach makes a deeper impression than a dramatic one could have." A critic from ''Deccan Herald'' opined that "Despite its shortcomings, ‘Achamundu Achamundu’ deserves a dekko".


Awards and nominations


References


External links


Official Website

Director's Blog
* {{IMDb title, id=tt1213631


''The Seoul Times'' review
Indian thriller films American thriller films Films set in New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Films about women in the Indian diaspora 2009 films Films scored by Karthik Raja Films about child abuse 2000s Tamil-language films 2009 directorial debut films Films directed by Arun Vaidyanathan 2000s American films