Actor-filmmaker Radhakrishnan Parthiban’s latest movie, Shadow of the Night, is the portrait of one man and his dark, disturbing life, in which Fate is always turning the tables on him. A hapless man named Nandu, played by director Parthipan, is a person who continually encounters failure and disappointment. While the story is framed by his painful present, the bulk of the film captures his journey from the age of five to 50.
His birth was the result of his mother’s extramarital affair with his parents’ landowner. His mother is then murdered by her husband in a jealous rage, leaving Nandu to be raised by neighbors until he runs away aged 10. He experiences everything that teenagers shouldn’t experience, including being raped by a cop. At 18 he falls in love with a girl who seems to reciprocate his feelings but ends up cheating on him for money, breaking his heart. Then he falls in love with a more sincere girl, Chilakkamma, they marry and set up a small shop. But the bad luck keeps on following him …
Shadow of the Night is a single shot, non-linear film, the first ever to be made in Indian cinema. A single-shot film is a film made without edits: Parthipan shot the whole movie without pausing the camera, meaning that one small mistake from any member of the cast or crew would require him to reshoot the entire film from the beginning. The crew took around 22 takes before they got it right.
Director and actor Parthiban, who won a National Award for his very first film, Pudhiya Paadhai, has directed 15 films, and acted in more than 70. He also won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award in 2019 for Otha Seruppu Size 7, which he wrote, directed and in which he stars as the only character.
Parthiban started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in 1984. In addition to acting and directing, he is also a writer and producer. He has produced 13 movies and is the author of the book “Kirukkalgal” (Scribbles) which was published by M. Karunanidhi.
Shadow of the Night stars Parthiban, Brigida Saga, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Robo Shankar and Priyanka Ruth in the lead roles. The score for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman, the cinematography is by Arthur Wilson and the art direction by Vijai Murugan.
The film has entered both Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records as the first ever Asian non-linear single-shot film.