Having worked as an assistant director for Balu Mahendra and Karthik Subbaraj, Someetharan – who has previously created documentaries – has now directed his first narrative feature film. ‘Neelira’ is a tale that takes place over an evening and a night during a wedding in Jaffna in 1988. With a runtime of ninety minutes, the film is a taut and tense thriller. 

Ahead of the release of his production company Stone Bench’s latest release ‘Neelira’, producer Karthik Subbaraj sat down with Tamil Guardian to discuss the upcoming film as well as diving into a quick retrospective of his career. 

What made you decide to produce 'Neelira'?

Awaiting the release of his debut feature film ‘Neelira’, director Someetharan sat down with Tamil Guardian to discuss his cinematic journey thus far. Being the first Eelam Tamil director to explicitly make a film set entirely in and during the conflict in Kollywood, a lot rests on the director’s shoulders including a lot of anticipation for how the film will perform from the industry.