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''Agadam'' () is a 2014 Indian
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
-language
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Mohamad Issack Isaq, also known as Mohamad Issack is an Indian film producer and director of Kollywood. His debut film was ''Agadam'', made in the Tamil language. Agadam also claims to be the first film to be shot using night effects with a hand-held camera. ...
, featuring Baskar, Srini Iyer, Thamizh, Kalaisekaran, Saravana Balaji,
Sri Priyanka Sri Priyanka is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After portraying her first major lead role in ''Agadam'' (2014), she appeared in the Tamil film ''Kangaroo'' (2015). In April 2017, she signed to play an important ro ...
, Anisha and master Ajay. ''Agadam'' was certified by the
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
as the longest uncut film which has a running time for 2 hours, 3 minutes and 30 seconds. The entire film was shot on 7 December 2012. The film, set in
real time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
, starts with men burying the body of a woman whose ghost returns and haunts them. Issack remade the same film in
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...
as ''
Seesa ''Seesa'' is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language film directed by Mohamad Issack, starring Sivaji, Chesvaa and Namratha. Seesa also has been shot in a single take like its original ''Agadam''. Plot ''Seesa'' is a thriller film all about human emoti ...
''.


Cast

*Tamizh *Srini Iyer *
Sri Priyanka Sri Priyanka is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil language films. After portraying her first major lead role in ''Agadam'' (2014), she appeared in the Tamil film ''Kangaroo'' (2015). In April 2017, she signed to play an important ro ...
*Baskar *Kalaisekaran *Saravana Balaji *Anisha *Master Ajay


Production

The entire film was shot on 7 December 2012 shot at a three-storey bungalow near
Porur Porur () is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. It is situated in the Maduravoyal taluk of Chennai district in the southern part of the city. Since 2011, it has been a part of the Chennai Corporation and included in zone number 11. The earliest ...
in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. The film running for 2 hours, 3 minutes and 30 seconds was shot on a single camera without any cuts and therefore awarded the
Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for being the longest uncut film, beating the record held by ''
Russian Ark ''Russian Ark'' (russian: link=no, Русский ковчег, ''Russkij Kovcheg'') is a 2002 Experimental film, experimental historical drama film directed by Alexander Sokurov. In ''Russian Ark'', an unnamed narrator wanders through the Winter ...
'' directed by Alexander Sokurov, which used a single 96-minute
Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...
sequence shot In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate bl ...
. A director registered with the union (L. Suresh of ''
Eththan ''Eththan'' (), also known as ''Ethan'', is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film written and directed by L Suresh. The film stars Vimal and Sanusha, whilst Jayaprakash and Sarvajit appear in supporting roles. The music was composed b ...
'' fame), a notary public and a government teacher were present during the shoot, while a team followed Isaak and the cinematographer E.J. Nauzad Khan and filmed the entire making of the film in order to send the video to the Guinness Record jury. The camera used was a Sony NEX-FS100. Director Issack gave up his software job to "make a film that is different, yet entertaining" and said that he wanted his first film to make an impact. He spent over a year on the script and stated that he was inspired by ''Russian Ark''. Ten people were involved in the making of the film, the director, the cameraman, and 8 actors, who were all newcomers. The team rehearsed for over a month before the filming and the entire sequence was said to be rehearsed over 40 times. ''Agadam'' was also the first film to be shot in the night effect with a hand-held camera. The film, which had no songs, was awarded a U/A certificate by the Censor Board.


Reception

''
Dinamalar ''Dinamalar'' is an Indian Tamil daily newspaper. It was founded in 1951 by T. V. Ramasubba Iyer. ''Dinamalar'' has an average circulation of 942,812 (ABC Jan-June 2016) History Dinamalar was founded by T. V. Ramasubbaiyer on 6 September 195 ...
'' appreciated the film stating that the film has a good medical message and stand out in its unique attempt of single shot filming. They also lauded the entire cast as well as the technician's, concluding that the slow pace of some part has not affected the good result. '' Kungumam'' magazine appreciated the cameraman as well as director for making a single shot film completely in a house. ''
Maalai Malar ''Maalai Malar'' is a daily evening Tamil newspaper. It is owned by Daily Thanti group. It was founded by S. P. Adithanar in 1977 at Coimbatore. Maalai Malar has twelve editions published from Chennai, Vellore, Dindigul, Thanjavur, Tirunelve ...
'' daily mentioned that the cinematography as well as direction has to be appreciated, but music lacked the thrill. Overall the effort can be appreciated for making a single shot film. In contrast, M. Suganth of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'', who could not watch the film in one sitting due to a forced interval, rated the film 1.5 out of 5, saying that "''Agadam'' is a cautionary tale that proves that while digital has made it possible for anyone to make a film, not everyone should make one."


See also

* Single shot films


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, id=2574426, title=Agadam 2010s Tamil-language films 2014 directorial debut films 2014 films 2014 horror thriller films Guinness World Records Indian horror thriller films Tamil films remade in other languages One-shot films