''Connect'' is a 2022
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
Supernatural horror film
Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...
directed by
Ashwin Saravanan
Ashwin Saravanan is an Indian film director, who has directed predominately Tamil language films. Directorial debut from ''Maya (2015 Tamil film), Maya'' and film making style is neo-noir horror film. Second film was Game Over (2019 film), Game ...
and produced by
Vignesh Shivan
Vignesh Shivan, credited sometimes as Vignesh Shivn (born 18 September 1985) is an Indian film director, film producer, actor, singer and lyricist who works in Tamil cinema.
Personal life
Shivan and actress Nayanthara had been in a relationshi ...
under Rowdy Pictures, starring
Nayanthara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
,
Sathyaraj
Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...
,
Anupam Kher, and
Vinay Rai
Vinay Rai (born 18 September 1979) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his performance in the films ''Unnale Unnale'' (2007), ''Jayamkondaan'' (2008), ''Endrendrum Punnagai'' (2013) and ''Aranmanai'' (2 ...
. ''Connect'' marks the second collaboration of Saravanan with Nayanthara, after ''
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...
''. The background score was composed by Prithvi Chandrasekhar. The film also marks Kher’s return to Tamil cinema after a long gap.
Plot
During the
nationwide lockdown in India, Susan, a single mother starts noticing eerie changes in the behaviour of her daughter, after her father’s death, gets virtual help of Father Augustine, a priest, who proposes a virtual exorcism.
Cast
*
Nayanthara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
as Susan
*
Sathyaraj
Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...
as Arthur Samuel, Susan's father
*
Anupam Kher as Father Augustine
*
Vinay Rai
Vinay Rai (born 18 September 1979) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Tamil films. He is best known for his performance in the films ''Unnale Unnale'' (2007), ''Jayamkondaan'' (2008), ''Endrendrum Punnagai'' (2013) and ''Aranmanai'' (2 ...
as Dr.Joseph Benoy, Susan's late husband, (Cameo appearance)
* Haniya Nafisa as Anna Joseph (Ammu), Susan and Joseph's daughter
*
Avinash
Avinash Yelandur (born 22 December 1959) is an Indian actor who stars predominantly in South Indian language films, notably in the Kannada and Tamil film industries. He has been in the industry for two decades and has acted in over 200 films. Kn ...
as Father Alex
* Mekha Rajan as Ouija Board practitioner
*
Maala Parvathi
Parvathi T., also known as Maala Parvathi, is an Indian actress, who appears in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu films
Personal life
Parvathi was born in Thiruvananthapuram, to Adv C. V. Thrivikraman and gynaecologist Dr K. Lalitha. She complete ...
as Healthcare Worker
Production
Development
In a conversation with ''Silverscreen India'', Ashwin Saravanan stated that: "I was feeling stressed and anxious; the times were very uncertain. There was hopelessness and uncertainty about whether we would ever recover from it. I wanted to portray those emotions in a film and I realised the only genre that would work for my purpose was horror. Anxiety, dread, sense of hopelessness and fear – the horror genre lends itself to these emotions beautifully. We chose the title ''Connect'' because, during the
lockdown
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
, all of us found it hard to connect with those around us. I want to capture that in the film. What happens when we are unable to connect, is one of layers that we have explored." The story is written by Ashwin in association with his wife Kaavya Ramkumar, marking their second collaboration after ''
Game Over''.
Filming
The filming began in October 2021 and schedules were canned continuously in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The makers unveiled the first look poster of the film on Nayanthara’s birthday, November 18, 2021. The principal photography has been completed in mid 2022.
Release
Theatrical
The makers announced the release date of the film as December 22, 2022 with a jump-scary teaser and also the film will not have an
intermission
An intermission, also known as an interval in British and Indian English, is a recess between parts of a performance or production, such as for a theatrical play, opera, concert, or film screening. It should not be confused with an entr'acte (F ...
. However, after theatre owners in Tamil Nadu refused to screen films without intermissions, citing potential loss of revenue, the makers of ''Connect'' agreed to give theatres an option to induce intermissions. The trailer of the film was released on 9 December 2022.
Home media
The post-theatrical streaming rights of the film has been sold to
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.
Reception
The film received positive reviews from critics.
Logesh Balachandran 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 ...
'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Nayanthara, once again, delivers a convincing act as the mother of a depressed teenager. The technical aspects of the film are brilliant, especially the sound design (Sachin Sudhakaran and Hariharan) and cinematography." Latha Srinivasan of ''
India Today
''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...
'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Produced by Rowdy Pictures, Connect is a film that belongs to Haniya Nafisa and the audience will remember her for a long time to come." Haricharan Pudipeddi of ''
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...
'' wrote "The music and cinematography play a very key role in making Connect an exceptionally good cinematic experience." Arvind V of ''
Pinkvilla
Pinkvilla is an Indian entertainment and lifestyle platform. As of June 2022, Pinkvilla has over 5,00,00,000 visitors on its website and app.
Overview
Pinkvilla covers entertainment and lifestyle stories. Its coverage extends to Bollywood, H ...
'' gave the film’s rating 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "The narrative is satisfied with its spiritual convictions, giving the drama a raw deal." Srivatsan S of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
'' wrote "For someone whose resume includes the stunning ''
Game Over'', you would ideally expect Ashwin to push the genre constraints. Connect is him settling for the ordinary." Thinkal Menon of ''
OTT Play
HT Media is an Indian mass media company based in Delhi, India. It has holdings in print, electronic and digital media.
HT Media's flagship newspaper is the ''Hindustan Times'', the second most widely read English newspaper in India after ''The ...
'' gave the film’s rating 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "The performances of lead actors save this run-of-the-mill horror film which has nothing new to offer in terms of story." A critic for ''India Herald'' gave a rating of 3 stars for the film and wrote "Overall, Connect is a story that might make you think of a lot of hollywood horror movies, but the superb sound and jump scares will mesmerise you in the theatre." Kirubhakar Purushothaman of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
'' gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Again, it is pretty amusing that of all kinds of Tamil mainstream cinema, a true-blue genre has represented the ones that are still grieving." Vishal Menon of ''
Film Companion
Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...
'' wrote "It's a familiar story told in an unfamiliar way and when the making-style contributes, you feel fear like vou haven't yet before. But when it doesn't, it's the boredom of
ghosts past that get to you first." Lakshmi Subramanian of ''
The Week
''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...
'' gave the film’s rating 3 out of 5 and wrote "With the film revolving around the three characters, in the backdrop of the lockdown, 99 minutes might seem long." Ashwin Ram of ''Moviecrow'' gave the film’s rating 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "A technically rich film with an unique approach style. But the core essence is extremely disappointing as there’s nothing to specify as a story. Also, the happenings are as familiar as it can be for a horror movie." Avinash Ramachandran of
''Cinema Express'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "''Connect'' starts strongly with a bright tale freefalling into the depths of darkness, courtesy of the pandemic, the film sparingly hits the high notes of the genre while just about managing past the finish line."
References
External links
* {{imdb title, 16139054, Connect
2022 horror films
2020s Tamil-language films
2022 films
Indian horror thriller films
Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic