‘Mayathirai is inspired by a fire accident in the 90s’

Actors Ashok, Sheela Rajkumar and Chandini Tamilarasan’s film Mayathirai is set to have its release on August 5. The director of the film Sampath Kumar says that Mayathirai isn’t your typical horror story. “There have been several horror films that are done and dusted in Tamil cinema. Mayathirai isn’t one of them in which the spirits have human sides to it. Morever, we have explored a triangle love story with spirits in which Ashok, Sheela and Chandini play the lead role,” filmmaker T Sampath Kumar told DT Next.

The director added that the film is inspired from real-life incidents that took place in the 90s. “A touring talkies in Nagercoil caught fire in the 90s and as many as 23 people lost their lives in the mishap. That is where the story of Mayathirai took its inspiration from. In the story, we have explored where spirits still have human side to them even after their souls leave their bodies and how they live a life similar to humans.”

Talking about the shooting schedules, he said, “We shot the movie at a touring talkies near Tirunelveli. That is one of the few touring talkies, which is functional.”