Kuruthi Mazhai is a gripping mystery series that has been entertaining Astro viewers on Vinmeen HD (CH 231), as well as on Astro GO and On Demand since December 1.

This 22-episode series revolves around a policeman, Inspector Kathirvel (played by C. Kumaresan), who takes charge of a high-profile murder case, and later finds his wife murdered by a serial killer. Whether Kathirvel, with the help of his partner Sub-Inspector Ezhil (played by Dhilip Kumar) nab the killer, who only strikes on rainy days, forms the crux of the story.

Astro recently caught up with the series' director Indiran Shamnugam and the main star Kumaresan to talk about their experience working on the project.

Director: Indiran Shanmugam

‘Kuruthi Mazhai’ is about a cat-and-mouse game between two cops and a serial killer who hunts unsuspecting girls on rainy days. The message is about not trusting someone based on the surface alone – how they look, dress or portray themselves. I have always found the psychology behind serial killers and their motivations interesting, in particular, Ted Bundy, an infamous American serial killer who was behind 30 murders.

Additionally, I enjoy thriller films such as ‘Seven’, ‘Vertigo’ and more, which was also part of my inspiration for this series, meant to highlight the lesser known motivations behind serial killings. I studied filmmaking internationally and locally, produced a few short films, and have won awards in various film festivals globally.

Film making has always been a passion of mine and it was a great experience working with Astro, Veedu Productions as well as other technicians. I learned that with a great team, we can achieve big dreams and goals such as shooting purely with artificial rain. This is my first time directing a series and I look forward to directing more series and films locally and taking more local content to the global stage. I would especially like to thank Astro for their trust and support in ‘Kuruthi Mazhai’.

Cast: C. Kumaresan

In ‘Kuruthi Mazhai’, I played ‘Kathir’, a police officer going through a rough time in his personal life and is forcefully appointed to investigate a murder case. This story revolves around an imaginary town called Tanjung Federick set in the 1990’s.

A string of murders take place during the rainy season and Kathir discovers that the murderer kills only on rainy days. However, being an alcoholic and chain-smoker while working on the case, he is always in the public eye for the wrong reasons.

This is my first series and it was interesting to work with artificial rain, in a 1990’s setting, and a tight schedule. I hope the audience enjoy ‘Kuruthi Mazhai’ as a high-quality thriller series with plenty of social awareness messages that can be useful in daily live.

Catch new episodes of Kuruthi Mazhai every Monday to Friday at 9pm on Astro Vinmeen HD (Ch 231) or stream anytime on Astro GO and On Demand.