Birthmark (film)

Birthmark is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language thriller drama film written and directed by Vikram Shreedharan. The film stars Shabeer Kallarakkal and Mirnaa Menon in the lead roles. The film was produced by Vikram Shreedharan and Sriram Sivaraman under the banners of Sapiens Entertainment.

Plot
Divided into four chapters, the film follows Indian Army Lieutenant Daniel (Shabeer Kallarakkal) and his six-month pregnant wife Jennifer (Mirnaa Menon). Daniel struggles with PTSD; he was rescued recently after having been abducted in the war zone six months prior. Meanwhile, Jennifer suffers from various health complications, which prompts Daniel into accompanying her to the Dhavanthri natural birthing village in Kerala, which follows the midwifery birthing model of childbirth. The village is overseen by the elderly Kundhavi. Upon their arrival, a couple leaves the birthing village carrying their newborn in-hand. Something about the couple seems off; they appear sad and deflated despite just having had a child together. Reflecting on their shared memories, Daniel and Jennifer unite to overcome challenges to bring their baby into the world.

Cast

 * Shabeer Kallarakkal as Daniel
 * Mirnaa Menon as Jennifer
 * Porkodi Senthil as Asha
 * Indirajith as Sebastian
 * Deepthie Orientelu as Amulu
 * P. R. Varalakshmi as Kundhavi
 * Kavitha Suresh as Daniel's mother
 * Naju as Daniel's father
 * Aalam as Young Daniel

Production
The film has a technical crew consisting of cinematographer Udhay Thangavel, music composer Vishal Chandrashekhar, art director Ramu Thangaraj and editor Iniyavan Pandiyan. The title look of the film was released in June 2023 and the trailer for the film was released on YouTube by Saregama Tamil on 25 August 2023.

Reception
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India rated 3 out of 5 and noted that "Shabeer Kallarakal and Mirnaa are wonderful as the leads and do their best to sell everything that’s going on". Maalai Malar critic stated that the director Vikram Sreedharan has directed the film with a different story; he is concentrating on making an English film. A critic from Cinema Express wrote "Birthmark holds our attention with an engaging setup but due to odd directorial choices, tonal issues, and a weak screenplay, we rarely feel the tension that the film wants us to feel".