AIYAI - Wrathful Soul
WRITTEN BY : Ilanthirayan Alan Arumugam & Charles Benedict & Mukund Ramanan
DIRECTED BY : Ilanthirayan Alan Arumugam
About the Film
Aiyai: Wrathful Soul is an Australian psychological, supernatural, mystery thriller directed by Ilanthirayan Alan Arumugam in his directorial debut while the script was made alongside Mukund Ramanad and Charles Benedict. The film was produced by Kanesh Mohana Sundaram of Aiyai Pty Ltd.
Kiran, an Indian student living in Australia, becomes a medium to exist for a vengeful spirit of a homeless woman. Kiran gets visions of many things he cannot understand, and the spirit inside him uses Kiran to fulfill its vengeance.
Meaning of the Title
The word ‘AIYAI’ describes a woman from a homeless clan of gypsies who have remained destitute street mongers for generations. The type who wears shell-horn bangles and wooden adornments, she lives in a different world, ostracized by the general population. When a woman of these traits suffers an extremely torturous death, her restless soul re-emerges and returns as the most powerful spirit to destroy her wrongdoers.
Based on true events
The character of Kiran and some of his experiences in the film has been largely inspired by true events seen by Director Alan in his childhood.
When Alan was 13 years old, growing up in the village of Palugamam, Sri Lanka, he and his fellow mates used to commute by busesto attend school in the nearest city. One of Alan’s school mates, Dhanan had fallen asleep over the return trip and missed his stop. By the time the bus conductor realized this, it was dusk. As it was late, he had to drop Dhanan outside the village, left all alone in the dark, close to a cemetery. For the next two days, Dhanan was nowhere to be found and the villagers conducted a massive search. Two women, out collecting firewood in the forest near the cemetery, spotted Dhanan high up in a tree and biting tree bark.
Dhanan appeared to be in a state of shock. His eyes were blood red and he would try to attack anyone who came near him. His family confined him to a room as they believed that a harmful spirit had taken over him, so they conducted an exorcism with traditional rituals. As days went by, his condition worsened. He quickly became emaciated and would strangely contort his body out of his normal shape. As he turned increasingly erratic in behaviour and wildly dangerous, he needed to be tied by chains. It was only a matter of days before Dhanan lost his battle to live and succumbed to death.
While the concept for ‘Wrath of Souls’ was conceived by Alan, he wanted to experiment with a supernatural story grounded in realism. In order to achieve this, the real experiences of Dhanan, the psychology of his internal battle with the spirit, his transformation and ultimate fate were key elements used to construct the fictional character of Kiran.
A primary focus of ‘Wrath of Souls’, a psychological thriller with supernatural undertones, was to create characters living familiar, grounded and realistic lives so as to instil a true story kind of feel, one which the viewer can readily and seamlessly relate to. Therefore, parallel lines were drawn between the stories of the boy next door, Kiran and a homeless junkie, Amy, both of whom end up at the wrong place at the wrong time. When Amy is brutally murdered, her remains manifest into a vengeful spirit which sets out to destroy her wrongdoers by using Kiran as a vehicle. While the powerful spirit seizes justice by getting its revenge, Kiran gradually loses himself, reaches a point of no return, and meets an unjust, tragic end.
Cast:
Tahlia Jade Holt - Sara Martin
Korey Williams - Steve Lewis
Kabir Singh - Kiran
Richard Huggett - Albert Fisher
Asabi Goodman - Police woman
Craig Ingham - Michael
Where to View
Film Details
Completed : October 2019
Theatrical Release : Feb 2020
Budget - $1.7m AUD
Running Time : 83m
Country of Origin : Australia
Film Location : South East Queensland
Screener Link : Click Here (password required)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Festivals/Awards - 2022 Norway Tamil FF (Won - Best Director), Boden IFF (Nominated - First Time Film Maker)
More awards : IMDb
Director’s Statement
AIYAI: Wrathful Soul (pronounced eye-eye) is developed from an idea inspired by the title itself, an ancient Indian word describing the destitute homeless living on the edge of our world. The script was carefully crafted to avoid the clichés of horror films and designed by intertwining some interesting elements with distinguished characters to make it unique.
A primary focus of AIYAI: Wrathful Soul, a psychological thriller with supernatural undertones, was to create characters living familiar, grounded, and realistic lives so as to instill a true story kind of feel, one which the viewer can readily and seamlessly relate to. The concept and themes within are tailored specifically to engage a sophisticated international audience whilst providing an enhanced viewing experience which far exceeds that of a typical supernatural thriller.
Our protagonist Kiran is a foreign student struggling to get by. A fish out of water - and if that weren’t bad enough, he is soon forced to co-join with a vengeful spirit, one which may in fact match and mirror his own growing confusion and hostility with his personal circumstances and the situations he finds himself in.
As the story unfolds we learn everything is not as it seems and when the terrible events hinted at throughout are revealed in the twist ending, the audience learns exactly what has propelled our protagonist down such a horrifying path. With an ultimately satisfying and tragic resolution, we learn there is indeed a great moral basis for the story’s events.
My approach to the direction of the film was to break down each scene in such a manner as to allow the audience to journey through the narrative with Kiran - to see what he sees and to feel what he feels along the way. So they experience a sense of discovery in nearly every scene.
I am so proud of the achievements of my Cinematographer Damien Beebe, Production Designer Tim Hodgman, and Head of Special effects makeup Elizabeth Jones whose visions perfectly synced with my ideas, helping realize a sophisticated screen palette which set the foundation for a sense of escalating dread and tension, whilst giving our talented actors the scope to thoroughly explore their characters and situations.
Wherever possible my team and I have tried to keep our effects “in camera” or “practical” as opposed to CGI. I feel the human eye is a finely tuned instrument which is very difficult to trick, that even the way lights and shadows hit practical elements is a subconscious tell to the human brain that what it is seeing is real. Where the opposite is also true with complicated CGI elements and the way light and motion track with them.
Some of the scripted scenes are personal and unforgettable experiences I had in real life. Hopefully one day I’ll have the opportunity to discuss those strange yet inspiring situations to you.
Shot at some incredible locations in Australia, which blend both urban and rural elements, AIYAI’s landscape is both beautiful and haunting.
World-class sound design and editing by the extremely talented Roberto Merlini and Jonathan Brimson along with Jason Fernandez’s blood-chilling music score and gripping performances by a well-known International cast, AIYAI: Wrathful Soul is a complete package sure to thrill, shock, and entertain whilst giving audiences a satisfying viewing experience, one which I feel will leave them asking for more. A film that I envision will be notable for taking the Horror-Thriller genre to the international scale in 2020.
Movie Poster
Reviews
"Aiyai: Wrathful Soul is an impressive debut for Arumugam who does a good job with a film that is a lot more complex than most first features."
Voices from the balcony | Read full review
"The production value and environments in Aiyai are a welcome departure from your average low budget horror film, dynamic and dark throughout, and each in a literal and figurative sense. The blending of practical and CGI effects makes this feel like a much bigger production than it is, and the viewer is even treated to the return of flame retardant suits, which used to be far more ubiquitous in horror and action."
The Movie Elite | Read full review
Behind the Scenes
