Aviyal is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language independent anthology film consisting of four short films directed by Alphonse Puthren, Shameer Sultan, Mohit Mehra, Lokesh Kanagaraj and Guru Smaran. Nivin Pauly, Bobby Simha, Amrutha Srinivasan, Rajeev Govinda Pillai, Arjunan, Ramachandran Durairaj, and Deepak Paramesh have featured in the short films included in the anthology.

Produced by Karthik Subbaraj under his Stone Bench Creations and Bench Flix, it was their second venture after Bench Talkies, which was initially launched after the phenomenal response of the latter. The project Aviyal was launched earlier in November 2015, and the film was distributed by Thenandal Films, which had a theatrical release on 11 March 2016.

List of short films Title Director Writers Cinematographer Music Editor Studio Shruthi Bedham Mohit Mehra Raju Suriya Rajarajan Vishal Chandrasekhar, Dinesh Murugan Rohit Film Tribe Kalam Lokesh Kanagaraj Lokesh Kanagaraj Selvakumar S. K. Javed Riaz Philomin Raj Backwater Kanneer Anjali Guru Smaran Guru Smaran, Suryaa Balakumaran Kugan S. Palani Vishal Chandrasekhar Prasanna GK, Boopathi Selvaraj Madras Eye Films Eli Alphonse Puthren Alphonse Puthren Anand Chandran Rajesh Murugesan Alphonse Puthren Black Money Production

Plot synopsis Aviyal is a collection of four short films; A young man attracted to his aunt, a filmmaker chasing robbers who have stolen his short film, two friends going on a trip to deposit the ashes of their friend, and a gangster narrating a story.

Cast Shruthi Bedham Kalam Kanneer Anjali EliAmrutha Srinivasan as Shruti Rohit Nandakumar as Raj Naveen George Thomas Vipreeth Divya Kapoor Karthick CMDeepak Paramesh as a filmmaker Moses Rajkumar as Michael Krishnamoorthy as an actorArjunan as Dosa Deepak Paramesh Sharath Ravi Ramachandran Praveen Kumar MLV ShankarNivin Pauly as Eli Bobby Simha as Gangster Rajeev Pillai as Garudan Ranga Ramachandran Vijay Muthu Sanjay Jinu Joseph as Wild Horse

Special appearances in "Aviyal" promotional song Ashok Selvan Karunakaran Anthony Daasan Raghu Dixit

Special appearances in "Cinemakaaran" promotional song Anthony Daasan Kaali Venkat

Production Following the encouraging response to Bench Talkies – The First Bench (2015), Karthik Subbaraj announced plans of releasing a second anthology of short films soon after the initial project had released. The anthologies will be released under his Bench Flix, an initiative driven by Subbaraj's production house Stone Bench Creations, to provide reach and recognition to independent short film makers by distributing their short films across different avenues such as theaters, television, in-flight entertainment, radio and digital platforms.

In November 2015, a second production titled Aviyal was revealed to be in the editing stages, though the release of the film was delayed as a result of the 2015 South Indian floods. Subsequently, in January 2016, it was revealed that the anthology of films would include Alphonse Puthren's Eli starring Nivin Pauly, while other actors including Bobby Simha, Arjunan Nandakumar and Amrutha Srinivasan would appear in the film.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack album features six tracks (of four songs and two instrumentals) composed by Rajesh Murugesan, Javed Riaz, Shammeer Sultan, Vishal Chandrasekhar, Anthony Daasan and Raghu Dixit, with lyrics written by Shameer Sultan, Suryaa Balakumaran, Mani Amudhavan and Charukesh Sekar. Excluding Daasan and Dixit, four of them also contributed to the film's background score.

Marketing and release Aviyal was premiered at the 13th Chennai International Film Festival on 10 January 2016. After receiving positive response from the audience, the makers unveiled the first look and the first teaser on 22 January 2016, by Vijay Sethupathi and Bobby Simha who worked with Karthik Subbaraj in Iraivi (2016) in late January, while a theatrical trailer was unveiled in early February. The film opened up in more than 70 screens in Tamil Nadu, 30 screens in Kerala, and in a few screens in the US on 11 March 2016.

Reception Baradwaj Rangan, writing for The Hindu, stated "Aviyal, the second anthology, is a huge improvement—not just in terms of craft and performances, but also because the filmmakers don’t expect us to watch with caveats." M. Suganth of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated "The shorts in Aviyal are streets ahead of those that formed the first edition, Bench Talkies. They are daring, wacky and fresh. A couple of these films even manage to transcend the made-for-TV visual style of shorts." S. Saraswathi of Rediff gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "Karthik Subbaraj’s Aviyal may not be an exotic dish, but does have all the ingredients of a fun and wholesome meal."

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