Anbirkiniyal
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGokul
Based onHelen
Produced byArun Pandian
Alankar Pandian
StarringKeerthi Pandian
Arun Pandian
Praveen Raja
CinematographyMahesh Muthuswami
Edited byPradeep E. Ragav
Music byJaved Riaz
Production
company
A&P Groups
Distributed bySakthi Film Factory[1]
Release date
  • 5 March 2021 (2021-03-05)
Running time
124 minutes[2]
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

Anbirkiniyal is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language survival thriller film directed by Gokul and produced by Arun and Alankar Pandian. A remake of the Malayalam film Helen (2019), it stars Arun's daughter Keerthi as a woman who accidentally gets locked in a freezer room and fights to stay alive. The film began production in February 2020, and was released in theatres on 5 March 2021 to positive reviews.

Plot

Anbirkiniyal Sivam, nicknamed Anbu, is a BSc Nursing graduate and attends IELTS coaching classes intended for a job in Canada. She works part-time at The Chicken Hub, a fried chicken fast food restaurant in a mall to pay off her father Sivam's debts. One night, while Anbu's boyfriend Charles Sebastian is driving her home, they are stopped by police who penalise Charles for drunken driving and not wearing a helmet; both are brought to the police station. Sivam is summoned to the station, and is in dismay of seeing his daughter and does not talk to her despite her several attempts of creating conversation.

One night, Anbu has no one to drop her off home from work. She tries to call Sivam, but he is still angry with her. Her workmates are told by their manager to put some stocks in the freezer room which they ask Anbu to do. When closing for the night, the manager unknowingly locks Anbu in the freezer, where the temperature is -18 °C. Unaware of Anbu's predicament, Charles and Sivam search for her, while Anbu fights to stay alive and not die from freezing. The security guard at the front of the mall tells the police that Anbu did not leave the mall. They start looking for her and eventually find her almost dead in the freezer. Anbu survives, and is hospitalised. Sivam thanks the security guard, who tells Sivam that Anbu was the only one who would smile and wave at him.

Cast

Production

In January 2020, it was reported that Arun Pandian would be remaking the Malayalam film Helen (2019), with his daughter Keerthi starring. The film would be his comeback after a long sabbatical,[6] and Keerthi's second film as actress after Thumbaa (2019).[7] It was directed by Gokul, and co-produced by Arun's other daughter Kavita under A&P Groups.[8][9] The film is Gokul's fifth as director, and first one not based on an original idea.[5] Mathukutty Xavier, the director of the Malayalam original was offered to direct the remake, but refused since he was unable to "imbibe the changes they needed".[10] Cinematography was handled by Mahesh Muthusamy, and editing by Pradeep E Ragav.[8] Principal photography began in February 2020.[11] The film was near completion as of August 2020.[12] Filming ended by February 2021, and the title Anbirkiniyal was announced on 15 February.[8][13]

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Javed Riaz, with lyrics by Lalithanand.[14]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Un Koodave"Prarthana Indrajith2:28
2."Sanjaaram"Sid Sriram3:52
3."Aanakatti"Sriram Parthasarathy4:03
4."Deivangal"Sathyaprakash3:08
5."Andraadam"Prarthana Indrajith2:28
Total length:15:59

Release

A press screening for Anbirkiniyal was held on 27 February 2021 at Chennai.[15][16] The film was released in theatres on 5 March 2021.[17] It began streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 4 April 2021.[18] The satellite rights were sold to Kalaignar TV.[19]

Reception

M. Suganth of The Times of India praised Anbirkiniyal for its faithfulness to Helen, noting that director Gokul was "content with ensuring that the emotional beats and the thriller elements of the original are transferred competently. The end result is a film that might not match the intensity of the original, but manages to be a compelling watch, especially for those who might not have watched the original".[3] Sify too praised the remake's faithfulness to the original, but said, "Though the remake falls short of the original in the first half, the thriller portions in the second half work well [...] Technically too, the film has matched the original and all the actors have done their parts well."[20] Navein Darshan of Cinema Express rated the film 3 stars out of 5, saying "The solid supporting cast compensates for the unconvincing lead performances in the beginning. They hold the film together".[4] Ranjani Krishnakumar of Firstpost rated it 3.5 stars out of 5, saying "Despite its shortcomings, Anbirkiniyal is a delightful story of a survivor. One that offers hope that with a little effort, all can be good in the world."[21] Critic Malini Mannath wrote, "For those who have watched the earlier version the reboot may seem a tad underwhelming. But for a first-time viewer it could be a refreshing experience."[2]

References

  1. ↑ Sakthi Film Factory [@SakthiFilmFctry] (24 February 2021). "We are extremely elated to bag Tamil Nadu Theatrical rights of #Anbirkiniyal. A beautiful tale about power of a woman A @SakthiFilmFctry @sakthivelan_b Release" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mannath, Malini (5 March 2021). "Review- Anbirkiniyal". Malini Mannath. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Suganth, M (27 February 2021). "Anbirkiniyal Movie Review : This remake of Helen is an engaging watch". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Darshan, Navein (5 March 2021). "Anbirkiniyal Movie Review: A satisfying remake with an extra pinch of drama". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 நாகப்பன், க. (2 March 2021). "முதல் பார்வை: அன்பிற்கினியாள்". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Arun Pandian to remake this blockbuster for his daughter". Thandora Times. 27 January 2020. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Keerthi Pandian signs her second film in Tamil". DT Next. 8 February 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "Tamil remake of 'Helen' titled 'Anbirkiniyal'". The Times of India. 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "Arun Pandian to make a comeback with Helen remake". Cinema Express. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Pellissery, Deepthi (30 November 2021). "How 'Helen' reached Bollywood as 'Mili' | Interview with Mathukutty Xavier". Onmanorama. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "Malayalam film 'Helen' gets a Tamil remake!". Sify. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Keerthi Pandian & Arun Pandian's Tamil remake of Helen nearing completion". The Times of India. 3 August 2020. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Helen Tamil remake titled Anbirkiniyal". Cinema Express. 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Anbirkiniyal". Gaana. Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  15. ↑ Sreedhar Pillai [@sri50] (28 February 2021). "#Anbirkiniyal From March 5th in theatres worldwide. It had a big premiere on Saturday evening" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ↑ "என் மகளுக்கு கொடுத்த பரிசு – Arun Pandian நெகிழ்ச்சி..!". Kalakkal Cinema (in Tamil). 28 February 2021. Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  17. ↑ "Keerthi Pandian's Anbirkiniyal gets U certificate; all set to release on THIS date". Zoom. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  18. ↑ "New on Amazon Prime this week: 'Manifest', 'Anbirkiniyal' and more". The Hindu. 30 March 2021. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "Back-to-back business for Kalaignar TV with new Tamil movies!". Moviecrow. 14 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "Anbirkiniyal review: A feel-good survival drama". Sify. 1 March 2021. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  21. ↑ Krishnakumar, Ranjani (4 April 2021). "Anbirkiniyal review: Keerthy Pandian shines in this chilling, satisfying film featuring vignettes of urban life". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
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