Demonte Colony

Cinephile deep dive

The take

R. Ajay Gnanamuthu directs. Aravinnd Singh behind the camera. Keba Jeremiah scores. Bhuvan Srinivasan cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in India. Dialogue in Tamil.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $0.2M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 8.3× over at the box office.
• 3Released 11 years ago.
• 4Part of the "Demonte Colony Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 6Directed by R. Ajay Gnanamuthu, shot by Aravinnd Singh. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Keba Jeremiah. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Bhuvan Srinivasan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Arulnithi and Ramesh Thilak and Sananth carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "He will kill us.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt4701688 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Only 35 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

Aravinnd Singh

Original score

Keba Jeremiah

Editing

Bhuvan Srinivasan

Sound

Arunprasad M

Runtime

116 min · 1h 56m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$240,000

Box office

$2,000,000

Return

833% of budget

Original language

TA

Certification (US)

UA

IMDB

Demonte Colony (2015) ↗

Part of

Demonte Colony Collection

Follows a curse that is said to be set on the Lord John Demonte's diamond necklace, which he wished to gift his wife, ensuring that whoever tries to steal it will be killed.

• 
  Demonte Colony 3
• 
  Demonte Colony

  2015 · this one
• 
  Demonte Colony 2

  2024

Also by

R. Ajay Gnanamuthu

• 
  Imaikkaa Nodigal

  2018 · ★ 6.9
• 
  Demonte Colony 2

  2024 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Cobra

  2022 · ★ 5.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Demonte Colony Official Trailer | Arulnithi | Keba Jeremiah

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• timesofindia2015-07-04
  ★ 6/10

  For a horror film, Demonte Colony starts harmlessly enough — the four leads are introduced with a scene each and in this one scene, we are able to get an idea of their characters. Raghavan ( Sanath), an aspiring filmmaker, goes to narrate a horror film to a producer, who, instead asks for a comedy. In what appears to be a subtle dig at a real-life actor, the producer asks for a story-less film in which the hero and the comedian should keep talking throughout the film, and audiences shouldn't be able to figure out who the actual hero is. Sajith (Abhishek) is an electrician and a loser in life, while Vimal (Ramesh) is a graphic designer. Then there is Srini ( Arulnidhi) who provides companionship (in a non-sexual way) to Jillu, a married woman, in return for money. Out of false bravado, the four decide to check out a dilapidated mansion in the titular Demonte Colony, a place where a Portuguese lord murdered all his servants after his mentally unstable wife becomes pregnant during his absence. The friends manage to come out unscathed or so it seems until the next night, when eerie things begin to happen in their room — the TV doesn't switch off, and instead of the DVD that they had inserted plays their own conversations; the windows and doors do not open; their cries for help are never heard outside; they learn a startling fact that one of them has been dead since the previous night! Why the evil spirit is after them is the mystery. Horror comedy might be the flavour of the season, but debutant Ajay Gnanamuthu's Demonte Colony is a refreshing change — it is a pure horror film with no frills attached (forget comedy, the film does not even have a heroine!), and this alone makes us want to appreciate the director. The film does indulge in the cliches that beset the horror genre but it is the way in which the film is made that gives it a different tone. The film takes place over the course of two days and the entire second half takes place inside a single room but with the help of his cinematographer, Aravinnd Singh, Ajay manages to keep the film visually appealing — the orange glow of a streetlight in the background provides a stark contrast to the saturated tone that is used for the room and the interesting angles in which the cinematographer frames the action (a must in a horror film) adds to the thrill. The background score is just a bit loud but the sound effects team gets things right. If the constant patter of the rain outside enhances the hopelessness of the situation in which the protagonists find themselves in, the vibration that we feel when a gun is repeatedly banged on the floor elevates the tension in the scene. But despite the visual flair, Demonte Colony at times gets bogged down by predictability and the lack of a genuine sense of dread. The film also throws up questions that aren't convincingly answered, like why the evil spirit waits for a day to hunt them down and what/who is the good spirit that communicates with them through an ouija board. And the climax is a bit of a letdown. It doesn't feel like a twist but more like a cheat where things are shown to have happened one way and then revealed to have happened in a completely different manner.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• MO

  Mohana Movies

  IN

• SR

  Sri Thenandal Films

  IN

Key crew

• ProducerMu. Ka. Tamizharasu
• EditorBhuvan Srinivasan
• Sound DesignerArunprasad M
• Sound DesignerUdhaya Kumar
• ProducerRadha N
• Art DirectionT Santanam
• Playback SingerAnirudh Ravichander
• LyricistArunraja Kamaraj
• Playback SingerArunraja Kamaraj

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2015-05-22UA