Such is the crossover between film and TV that “Vadhandhi – The Fable of Velonie” is only the latest streaming series to find itself a prominent slot at a major film festival.
The eight-part Tamil-language crime thriller will upload to Amazon Prime Video from Dec. 2. But the International Film Festival of India will first give a special edit of the show a cinema screening on Nov 27.
With a title that means ‘rumors’ in English, the series is set in a small town where nothing is quite as it seems. The focus is on Velonie, a beautiful debutante (portrayed by newcomer Sanjana) who is complex and mysterious and whose back story is murky. Vivek, a cop (portrayed by multihyphenate S.J. Suryah), who is both troubled and determined, is on her case trying to penetrate through the layers of the town, his suspect and himself. It is not clear that he will be able to build a case, whether he will identify the real culprit or whether he will be able to overcome his own obsessions or be able to do so without destroying his own family.
Laila, M. Nasser, Vivek Prasanna, Kumaran and Smruthi Venkat have pivotal roles and head the remainder of the ensemble cast.
The show is produced by writer-director pair Pushkar and Gayatri under their Wallwatcher Films banner and was created by Andrew Louis. Amazon will present it in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language versions.
Louis and Suryah have had a long and close working relationship over a period of seven years.
“I’ve played a cop earlier in my career, but my character Vivek is exceptional. The way this case and story consumes him, I find myself fascinated and at the same time anxious for him,” said Suryah.
“Crime as a genre is something that brings out the art of storytelling in its most raw and natural form. With ‘Vadhandhi – The Fable of Velonie,’ our intent is to completely capture the audiences’ imagination, and question societal biases,” said Pushkar and Gayatri in a statement ahead of the screening.
The pair have a stellar track record including creating the “Suzhal – The Vortex” series and the recently released Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan-starring
film “Vikram Vedha.”
