Cinderella (2021 Indian film)

Cinderella is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language horror film written and directed by Vinoo Venketesh in directorial debut under the banner SSi Productions.^[1] The film stars Raai Laxmi in the title role^[2] and Sakshi Agarwal. The music was composed by Aswamithra^[3] with cinematography by Rammy and editing by Lawrence Kishore. Principal photography of the film commenced in October 2018. The film was released on 24 September, 2021.^[4]

Cinderella
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vinoo Venketesh
Written by	Vinoo Venketesh
Produced by	S. Subbiah
Starring	Raai Laxmi Abhinaya Sakshi Agarwal
Cinematography	Rammy
Edited by	Lawrence Kishore
Music by	Ashwamithra
Production company	SSi Productions
Release date	24 September 2021 (2021-09-24)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Plot

Akira (Raai Laxmi), a sound designer, is arrested as a suspect, but she claims she is innocent. She had come to a hill station to record the sounds of a few rare birds for a Hollywood project. She finds a Cinderella costume in an antique shop and brings it home and has paranormal experiences. Meanwhile, Ramya (Sakshi Agarwal), a rich girl, is killed and her mother becomes the next target of a ghost. At the police station, a man is arrested for assaulting Ramya's mother Sandra. When leaving the station, Akira bumps into Sandra, who is shocked to see her. She contacts her manager, requesting for an appointment with Saint Gonzalves. The movie then jumps to a flashback.

Thulasi, Akira's lookalike, works as a maid for Sandra and Ramya, who berates her. She once sees a Cinderella costume and saves money to buy it. Meanwhile, Ramya falls in love with her dance choreographer Robin. Robin on a visit to Ramya's House, sees Thulasi dancing and admires her. Later during Ramya's birthday party, Thulasi wears the Cinderella costume, and Robin falls for her. He later proposes to her, angering Ramya. Later that day, Ramya and Sandra kill Thulasi. Thulasi's spirit goes into the gown, and a possessed Akira kills Ramya. Sandra, with the help of the Saint, tries to ward off the ghost. Thulasi pairs up with another woman's ghost (a lady killed by her husband and Sandra) and kills Sandra.

Cast

• Raai Laxmi as Thulasi / Akira
• Abhinaya as Inspector Rakshana, John's wife
• Sakshi Agarwal as Ramya
• Ujjayinee Roy as Ramya's mother
• Robo Shankar as Guru tailor
• Kalloori Vinoth as Bob, Akira's friend
• My Dear Bootham Abhilash as Kayamboo
• Mohan Raman as Judge
• Gajaraj as Rakshana's father
• Anbu Thasan as Akira's friend
• Boys Rajan as Psychiatrist
• Supergood Subramani as Security Guard
• Mathew Varghese as Akira's father
• Billy Murali as Police
• Mippu
• Master Sucil as Thulasi's friend

Production

The project was announced by debutant Vinoo Venketesh who previously worked as an associate director of S. J. Surya. The filming progressed from October 2018 according to notable sources.^[5] After narrating the script to Nayanthara, Trisha, Amy Jackson, Hansika Motwani, Aishwarya Rajesh, Manisha Yadav, Anjali, and Regina Cassandra, Raai Laxmi, who was part of horror films like Aranmanai and Kanchana, was cast in the female lead.^[6][7] As per Raai, she has three different characterisations in the film.^[8][3] Sakshi Agarwal was announced as a second female lead.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Aswamithra. All lyrics written by Kabilan Vairamuthu.

Cinderella
Soundtrack album by Aswamithra
Released	2021
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	14:28
Label	Junglee Music
Producer	Aswamithra
Aswamithra chronology
Kanchana 2 (2015) Cinderella (2021)

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Aalavanjiye (Female Vocals)"	Aishwarya Ravichandran, Balaji Sri	4:28
2.	"Aalavanjiye (Male Vocals)"	G. V. Prakash Kumar, Balaji Sri	4:29
3.	"Boogie Woogie"	Kiran Shravan, Vinoo Venkatesh	3:45
4.	"Cinderella Theme"		1:46

Release

The film was released on 24 September 2021.

Critical reception

Cinderella received mixed reviews from Ananda Vikatan and The Times of India.^[9][10]

References

1. Chakraborthy, Antara (4 November 2018). "Cinderella first look: Raai Laxmi promises to deliver the goods with new adaptation of fairytale". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
2. "Sakshi in Raai Laxmi's horror film". The Times of India. 15 January 2019. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
3. "First look of Raai Laxmi's Cinderella is out". The New Indian Express. 5 November 2018. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
4. Lavanya [@Lavanya00011] (19 September 2021). "#Cinderella paper AD 🙏💯 @ssakshiagarwal @KabilanVai @Ssiproduction1 @TimesMusicSouth @PROSakthiSaran @vinoovenketesh @Ramydop @editorkishore @KalloriVino https://t.co/v401B2iueO" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021 – via Twitter.
5. "Raai Laxmi's next titled, Cinderella". Cinema Express. 10 August 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
6. Suganth, M (11 August 2018). "Raai Laxmi is Cinderella, after Nayan, Trisha give it a pass". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
7. "Raai Laxmi's next is Cinderella". The New Indian Express. 11 August 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
8. "Meet Raai Laxmi's latest avatar, Thulasi, in Cinderella". The Times of India. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
9. "Cinderella Movie Review: Predictable plotting lets down well mounted Cinderella". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
10. "ராய் லட்சுமியும், சில பேய்களும்... கொஞ்சம் கருணை காட்டுங்க ப்ளீஸ்... `சிண்ட்ரெல்லா' +/- ரிப்போர்ட்!". Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). 26 September 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.

External links

• Cinderella at IMDb