Private Project

Banana

A Twelve-year-old Sivanaindhaan is one among the daily wage laborers who work in the banana plantations in the poverty-flooded village of Puliayankulam. Sivaniandhaan and Sekar, his dear friend despise working in the plantations on their weekends off from school along with the other children. The travel that Sivanaindhaan takes with his innocent pranks for not wanting to work takes a toll on his family. When he flees to school on one such workday and returns home a catastrophic turn of events catches up to him from where his life will not be the same.

  • Mari Selvaraj
    Director
    Pariyerum Perumal, Karnan
  • Mari Selvaraj
    Writer
    Pariyerum Perumal, Karnan
  • Divya Mariselvaraj
    Producer
  • Mari Selvaraj
    Producer
  • Kalaiyarasan
    Key Cast
    Madras
  • Nikhila Vimal
    Key Cast
    1983
  • Santhosh Narayanan
    Music Director
    Madras, Vada Chennai, Karnan, Kadaisi Vivasayi
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    வாழை
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    2 hours 1 minute 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 15, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1,643,228 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Tamil
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Mari Selvaraj

Mari Selvaraj is an Indian film director and literary writer who works in the Tamil film industry. He made his directorial debut with Pariyerum Perumal (2018), which opened to highly positive reviews and received many awards and accolades. Afterwards, he paired up with Dhanush for Karnan (2021), which opened to critical acclaim and was one of the most successful films at the box office in 2021. Also he wrote two short story collections in Tamil language named "Thamirabharaniyil Kollapadaathavargal" and "Marakave Ninaikiren".

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

For the film "Banana", I forced myself to look back at my childhood.
I’ve been a child laborer since the day I learned to walk and I’ve tried to create a conversation with my childhood self by making this film so that I get to handle my grief and retrieve myself from those dark days. I hope that this conversation that I’ve created will somehow comfort me from those unforgettable memories.