Yesterday, I watched Thai Kizhavi in theaters, and it turned into a deeply personal experience. Back in 2016, for my college project, we created a short film built around a strikingly similar idea. As the story unfolded on screen, I was honestly taken aback—certain situations and even a few lines of dialogue felt incredibly close to what we had imagined and written nearly a decade ago.
That short film has been sitting unlisted on YouTube all these years because I never had the confidence to share it publicly. Watching a similar thought evolve into a feature film made me reflect on how ideas travel, grow, and find their own timing. Still, I felt strangely happy. It felt like a quiet validation—a reminder that we were thinking in the right direction even back then.
Over the years, I chose ad films as my career path and stepped into entrepreneurship, building meaningful work alongside Pradeep Murugan, who was also one of the leads in that short film. My DOP Suriya, who was my classmate at university, and I once made a clear decision about our journey—we decided that I would focus on directing ads and building a strong portfolio for us, while he would work as an assistant cinematographer in films to gain field experience, alongside shooting the ads I directed. Step by step, we committed ourselves to learning from both sides of the industry. Last year, Suriya landed his first feature film project, #LittleHearts in Telugu, and it went on to become a blockbuster. Watching our parallel paths slowly take shape has been incredibly fulfilling.
But through all these years, cinema was never out of my heart—it was only waiting for its time.
Kodachal kovindhan crew
Director - myself
Cinematographer -
@suriya.balaji
Music -
@k3v1ndvd
Edit -
@prakash_lena
Edit -
@edwin_jeh.07
Creative team
@jaidh_anas @hariselvalingam @iam_nithesh @rsvineeth @pradeep.murugan
#thaikizhavi #sivakumarmurugesan
#thaikizhavi is a beautifully crafted film where every frame speaks. Sivakumar Murugaesan impresses with sharp visual storytelling, precise editing, and perfectly tuned music. A filmmaker to truly watch out for.
