A still from Kaaunri Kanya

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: Catch the chills and thrills of a movie about a woman possessed by an evil spirit in 3D at theatres tomorrow as Kaaunri Kanya hits screens.

The film, which is being touted as the first 3D horror film ever to be made in the state, hits the theatres tomorrow.

The low-budget film, a debut venture of brothers Soumya and Ramya Ranjan and a bunch of newcomers, had its premier show at a single-screen theatre at Kharavela Nagar this morning.

Kaaunri Kanya, which means a girl possessed by black magic, is based on legends about such an incident that apparently took place at a nondescript village in Ganjam district.

The story is about Riya and her husband Akash, a doctor. Their lives take a turn for the worse when Akash is transferred to a rural location. Within days of the couple settling in at their new home, they start witnessing strange events happening around them.

Riya is the most affected and is finally possessed by an evil spirit. With the help of Rajiv, a psychiatrist, Akash discovers the reason behind the occurrences. He comes to know the story of a village boy Ravi and his love interest Anusuya. Jealous of their love, villagers had killed Anusuya, suspecting her to have practised witchcraft. The film is about the revenge Anusuya’s wandering spirit takes and the future of Riya and Akash.

“To deal with the shortage of stereoscopic 3D enabled theatres, we planned to release the film all over in anaglyph 3D format, so that the movie can be viewed by as many as possible. There is a lot of technical and technological proficiency involved in the film utilising state-of-the-art visual and sound effects,” said Soumya Ranjan, the 24-year-old director of the film.

The youngster, a graduate of the Biju Patnaik Film and Television Institute in Cuttack, has also penned the dialogues and lyrics for the film. Film stars Kavya Kiran, Payal Bhuyan and Mohammed Rehan play important roles.

“Someone who is used to Hollywood fare might not like it, but it will be a new experience for viewers of Odia films. As an actor, it was a great learning experience,” said Rehan, the publicity designer of the film, who also plays the antagonist.