Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, Mercury heads to the theaters on April 13.
Young director Karthik Subbaraj on Tuesday said that his upcoming horror thriller Mercury is his most ambitious film. He has made a film, where language is no barrier. Any movie lover in any part of the world will be able to watch and understand Mercury as it is a silent film.
“Mercury is one of the most challenging projects I have worked on. From the nuances of the actor’s expressions to the minute technicals of the movie, everything needed to be monitored and looked into. The actors were required to emote purely with their face,” Karthik said talking about the challenges he faced making arguably only the second non-talkie film in 100 years of Indian cinema.
Actor Kamal Haasan’s Pushpaka Vimana that came out three decades ago is the first silent film that was made after the silent era in Indian cinema came to end with Alam Ara in 1931. The film won several Indian and international awards.
The makers of Mercury have promised that the film will be an audio and visual treat for the audience. The film revolves around the ordeal of a group of five friends, who find themselves in the wrong place, which is occupied by an evil villain played by Prabhudheva.
“We shot a lot of this movie in the night. The lighting, set design etc. had to be in sync. Month-long workshops were held with Prabhudheva and the actors on how to emote using their facial expressions only,” said Karthik.
“The cast has been extremely supportive on this journey. Besides being one of the most ambitious projects I have worked on, Mercury has also helped me enhance my skills as a director”, he said.
Also read | Music composer Mithoon: Creating music for Prabhudheva’s Mercury was a challenge
Mercury also stars Sananth Reddy, Deepak Parmesh, Shashank Puroshotham, Anish Padmanabhan, Indhuja Ravishandran, Gajaraj SP and Ramya Nambeesan in important roles. It is slated to release on April 13 this year.