'Kaaka Muttai' won't be cinematically emotional: Manikandan

Actor Dhanush-produced Tamil drama "Kaaka Muttai", about the lives two young brothers in a slum will not be cinematically emotional, says its director Manikandan, adding that it will be very realistic in its portrayal of the story.

"We have not focused on the emotional side of life in a slum because the film is not intended to be emotional. We've tried to present a very realistic view of a world that's part of our Indian cultural lifestyle," Manikandan told IANS.

"There's a lot of real-life humour. There are three songs as well, but they will feature as montages. The film is not slow-paced as many festival films usually are. At the same time, we have avoided the default dance and songs format of narrative," he said.

"Kaaka Muttai", which was completed nearly four months ago, will have its world premiere at 39th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September.

The film, which jointly produced by filmmaker Vetrimaaran and Fox Star Studios, will have three screenings at the fest on Sep 5, 6 and 13.

A "delighted" Manikandan said: "It was teamwork. All of us deserve this recognition. It feels great that a Tamil film will have its world premiere at a foreign film festival".

Manikandan was asked to make a film that will be accepted "universally".

"My producers really liked my short film 'Wind'. They asked me make a film with a universal theme. They wanted it to have commercial elements to appeal to theatre audiences as well as to have the ability to convince and move the festival crowd," he said.

"My producers gave me a lot of support. There was no interference in the creative process and that helped me to churn out a satisfying product," he added.

The film, which will have its theatrical release after its world premiere, features Ramesh, Ramesh Thilaganathan, Vignesh and Aishwarya Rajesh in lead roles.