Karungaapiyam

Karungaapiyam is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language horror thriller film written and directed by Deekay. It stars Kajal Aggarwal and Regina Cassandra in prominent roles. While Janani Iyer, Raiza Wilson, Noyrika Bhatheja, Kalaiyarasan, Yogi Babu, Karunakaran, Lollu Sabha Manohar, John Vijay, Sha Ra, Aadhav Kannadasan, VJ Parvathy, TSK, Sherlin Seth, Kutty Gopi and others are in supporting roles.

The film was released on 19 May 2023.

Plot
Umayaal who is tired of staying locked down at home during the covid pandemic, takes up her friend Priya's idea of visiting her brother's newly acquired library, as she enjoys reading. There she comes across an ancient book named 'Karungaapiyam'. The book contains a bunch of short stories filled with supernatural elements. Though the book looks old and seems to have been written decades ago, most of its stories take place in the present and involve elements like the lockdown, technological developments etc., making Umayaal wonder about the author's ability to see the future. When she couldn't find the author's name, she calls Priya to check the author from the library's catalogue and continues to read the book. As she reads, she starts experiencing strange happenings around her and sees ghosts from those stories. But she continues to read on. The fourth story is about Karthika who lived during the British rule in India, in a secluded village in Tamil Nadu where she was respected and revered for her kind and generous heart. The villagers also believed she had the blessings of God and that whatever she writes down came true. Suddenly, mysterious murders start occurring in the village and children go missing. Karthika's husband who was serving in the military suddenly dies leaving her behind with their daughter, Umayaal (the same name as the heroine) and his brother. Thereafter, word spreads that she is a witch responsible for all the murders and missing cases in their village. The entire community begins to treat her poorly, and she is forced to relocate to the village's outskirts. But the actual bad guy behind all those murders is Karthika's husband's greedy brother who plans to pin all the blame on Karthika to eliminate her, wanting all their wealth for himself. The villagers, except for a few, fall for this and stone the innocent Karthika to death. She comes back as a ghost and kills the villain and his men when they plan to eliminate kathika's daughter Umayaal just as they did Karthika. The story ends here. Umayaal finishes reading the story and runs out of the library when the paranormal stuff starts again. She gets home and shares all she experienced that day with Priya who tells her that the name of the author of 'karungaapiyam' is Umayaal karthika which also happens to be the full name of our heroine, umayaal. This shocks them and they feel there is a connection between the author and our heroine. Priya says that Karthika must've foreseen her own ending too and thus has written this book. She adds that Umayaal is the reincarnation of Karthika and might possess superpowers just like Karthika. To test her theory, she asks Umayaal to write something. Umayaal initially writes some silly stuff, then writes that the murderer is Santa Claus with an axe and a bell chases her. When nothing happens, they laugh and the friend leaves to go home. Turning around, in the hallway, Umayaal sees a Santa Claus with an axe and a bell in his hands.

Production
The film was directed by Deekay, also known as D. Karthikeyan. It is the second collaboration between Kajal Aggarwal and the director Deekay after Kavalai Vendam. The film was produced by Padarthi Padmaja under the banner of Pave Entertainments.The film was shot in Chennai, Udumalaipettai, and Pollachi. The film's cinematography was done by Vignesh Vasu in his second collaboration with the director ater Kaatteri. The editing of the film was done by Vijay Velukutty. The first look poster for the film was released on 16 July 2021. The trailer for the film was released on 30 January 2023.

Music
The music for the film was composed by S. N. Prasad in his third collaboration with Deekay after Yaamirukka Bayamey and Kaatteri.

Theatrical
The film was originally scheduled to release on 7 April 2023, but was postponed, and it was released theatrically on 19 May 2023.

Reception
Chandhini R of Cinema Express gave the film a rating of 1.5/5, stating, "All the episodes have some horror elements of sorts but they are hardly inventive." Siby Jeyya of the India Herald gave the film a mixed review, stating, "We really wished the entire movie was shot with Kajal Aggarwal itself." Thanthi TV critic gave mixed reviews.