Kaaka Muttai Heads for Toronto Festival

Kaaka-Muttai
After Slum Dog Millionaire, another tale set in the slums of India is all set to shine in the international arena. Only this one is much closer home, having been jointly produced by Dhanush and Vetrimaaran, who have bagged many an award in the past.

Now, the duo's joint production along with Fox Star Studios, Kaaka Muttai (KM), directed by short film maker M Manikandan, is heading for a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It's also good news for one of the actors, Aishywarya Rajesh, who is touted to have played an important character in this hush-hush project which has been kept majorly under wraps. The film is apparently set in a Chennai slum, with two young boys playing the main leads.

According to sources, the film, titled The Crow's Egg in English, is about two kids who live in the slum with their mother and grandmother. The family is too poor to afford even toys for the two brothers. But a new window opens up to them when their mother brings home an old TV set. When they see a pizza commercial on that TV for the first time, the boys dream of nothing but getting a taste of their first pizza. What happens from thereon is the story. KM attempts at painting a picture of hope, in a simple tale, centering around urban child poverty. While you may recall that English filmmaker Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire went on to win an Oscar and accolades worldwide, KM's Manikandan, however, is based right here in Chennai. He has made the critically acclaimed short film titled Wind, starring Vijay Sethupathy and Simhaa, in 2010. KM marks his debut as a feature film director.

The film has music by GV Prakash and is edited by Kishore TE, while Manikandan himself cranks the camera. The 39th annual TIFF is being held in Toronto between September 4 and 14, 2014. KM will have three screenings at the prestigious festival, with two shows on the opening weekend and one on the closing day. Other films from India to be screened at the festival include the Priyanka Kapoor starrer Mary Kom,a biopic based on the life of the weightlifter. Will Kaaka Muttai bring home accolades like Slumdog Millionaire? Let's keep our fingers crossed on that one!

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