Kaashmora

Kaashmora is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language horror masala film written and directed by Gokul. It features Karthi in dual roles for the second time after Siruthai as the protagonist and antagonist respectively alongside Nayanthara, and Sri Divya. The film features soundtrack composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Om Prakash and edited by V. J. Sabu Joseph. It was released worldwide on 28 October 2016, coinciding with Diwali.

Plot
Kaashmora and his family are con artists who cheat people in the name of black magic and dark spirits. One day, Yamini, a PhD research student, joins Kaashmora to gather evidence and expose him to the public. Kaashmora's fame makes him a superstitious and fraudulent minister. Kaashmora earns Minister Dhanakodi's trust. When the income tax department raids Dhanakodi's house, he asks his henchmen to transfer all the illegal money to Kaashmora's house. Seeing this as an opportunity to escape and settle abroad, Kaashmora's family run with the money. Meanwhile, Chelapathy Rao seeks Kaashmora's help and brings him to a haunted bungalow on the outskirts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. In the house, actual ghosts haunt Kaashmora.

Meanwhile, in Chennai, Dhanakodi learns that Kaashmora is a fraudster and sends his henchmen to kill his family. The henchmen try to get Kaashmora from the bungalow but cannot since the ghost beats them and drags Kaashmora and his family inside the house. The family encounters a broker trapped inside the house for a long time. The broker says that the bungalow was once a princess's palace. Ever since her death, residents and owners of the house have met with an ill fate. He also informs us that there are 13 ghosts in the bungalow. The trapped people meet the ghost of Raj Nayak, the head of all 12 spirits. Raj Nayak asks Kaashmora to help him and his subordinates reach the spiritual world. He then locks them in the castle. That night, a young girl in Kaashmora's dream leads him to a locked door within the palace.

As Kaashmora wakes up, Yamini tells him that Chelapathy Rao, the man who led him here, died 75 years ago, and his spirit took Kaashmora and Yamini here. Kaashmora searches the castle and gets hold of an old book dating back 700 years, narrating about Raj Nayak.

Past: Raj Nayak was a self-obsessed warlord and a womaniser. The king remained silent and did not interfere with Raj Nayak's growing atrocities because of his military prowess. One day, Princess Rathna Mahadevi elopes with her lover, the enemy kingdom's prince. The king announces that he will marry Rathna and give away half of his kingdom to the man who finds her. Raj Nayak kills the prince and forcibly brings Rathna back. He demands to be married to the princess and wants the other half of the kingdom as a dowry. When opposed, he kills the crown prince and the king. Raj Nayak then marries Rathna and crowns himself king. However, Rathna has other plans. She and her friends seduce Raj Nayak and his subordinates. While Raj Nayak's subordinates are burned alive, Rathna beheads Raj Nayak. However, he kills her and her assistants before dying. Before breathing her last breath, Rathna places a curse on the 13 men, preventing them from reaching the spiritual world.

Present: Afterwards, Raj Nayak and the other 12 ghosts haunted the palace and its occupants. According to an exorcist, Raj Nayak would become immortal if he sacrificed five people in a family born with the same birth star (Rohini). A lady who is the only woman in her generation should perform the sacrifice. It should happen during the Navakaali Pournami, which occurs once every millennium. Kaashmora recollects that his family members all have the same birth sign and that Yamini is the only woman in her family.

That night, Navakaali Pournami occurs, and Raj Nayak forces Kaashmora and his family to the guillotine. The young girl from Kaashmora's dream appears and turns out to be Rathna's reincarnation. While Rathna and Raj Nayak fight each other, Kaashmora fends off the subordinate ghosts with the help of a magical sword. Rathna's conscience leads him to a chamber within the castle where Raj Nayak's remains are. Using the dagger, Kaashmora destroys the remains, making Raj Nayak vulnerable. Rathna destroys Raj Nayak's spirit, and it goes to the underworld. The other spirits flee the castle for the spiritual world. Having escaped the palace, Kaashmora claims he defeated the ghosts and cleansed the centuries-old bungalow. Kaashmora's family gives Dhanakodi his documents and informs him that the spirit kept the stolen money.

Production
Production begun in the first week of May 2015, delayed from February. Karthi plays two roles: a king (Raj Nayak) and a youth (Kaashmora). Nayanthara plays a princess and Sri Divya as a research student, and Vadivelu was cast as Karthi's father before he was replaced by Vivek. Karthi learnt horseriding in preparation for the film. The technical crew includes the art director Rajeevan, editor V J Sabu Joseph, and cinematographer Om Prakash. The film was marketed as a mix of action and comedy.

It's been said that the "3D Face scan" technology has been used in this film. Karthi's face has been 3D scanned for an important sequence which will be running 15 minutes. Kaashmora comprises 70 minutes of VFX scenes. Director Gokul says that, 360-degree omnidirectional camera rig is used for shooting a particular sequence and this is the first Indian film to use this technology. This technology covers entire 360 degree, approximately entire sphere. Omnidirectional cameras are used where large visual field coverage is needed, such as in panoramic photography. This camera is used in this movie to shoot a song and few scenes. Filming wrapped in June 2016.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack album is composed by Santhosh Narayanan, collaborating with Karthi for the second time after Madras (2014). The audio rights were purchased by Think Music. The album featuring six tracks, features lyrics written by Lalithanand and Muthamil in the original Tamil version. The soundtrack album was launched on 7 October 2016, in Chennai, along with the theatrical trailer of the film, was released.

The Tamil version of the soundtrack album received positive reviews. Indiaglitz rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "The entire album has a tinge of echo to it, the depth of which lands the right notes for a supernatural score. With two karaoke tracks thrown into the kitty, Kashmora is a delightful album. It needs no introduction that Santhosh Narayanan is a musical genius; we have seen this right from his debut, to the recently blockbuster success, Kabali. Adding one more feather to his hat, Sathosh has struck the chord, yet again, as being one-of-a-kind." The Times of India rated the album 3 out of 5, and stated that "This one's not a usual Santhosh fest, but works in some parts!" Behindwoods rated the album 2.75 out of 5, summarised it as "Kaashmora has the magical spell, the experimental tint, and the typical Santhosh Narayanan flavor."

Release
Kaashmora was released worldwide on 28 October 2016 with Sri Thenandal Films buying the distribution rights. The satellite rights were sold to Jaya TV, where it premiered on 14 April 2017. Digital rights of the film were bought by Amazon Prime Video.

Reception
M. Suganth of The Times of India wrote, "The film contains the usual horror comedy tropes, but presents them all in a slightly different way, and at a grander scale, which makes it feel different, even though it is essentially an old wine in a new, big-budget bottle". The Hindu wrote, "All in all, it is a good effort and should appeal to dark fantasy lovers".

Box office
The film collected inr 80000000 in Tamil Nadu in first day.The film collected more than inr 260000000 worldwide in two days. The film collected inr 125000000 in Tamil Nadu and approximately inr 111000000 in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Kerala in first weekend. The film collected inr 80000000 in overseas, inr 30000000 in United States, inr 1200000 in Canada, inr 1400000 in UK, inr 8600000 in UAE, inr 900000 in France, inr 6400000 in Malaysia, inr 3400000 in Australia, inr 200000 in New Zealand, international collection of inr 22500000 and inr 316000000 worldwide.