Aaranya Kaandam

Aaranya Kaandam (transl. Jungle Chapter; English title: Anima and Persona) is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language gangster film written and directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja in his directorial debut. It is supposedly the first neo-noir film in Tamil cinema. The plot takes place in a day in the lives of the six protagonists, played by Jackie Shroff, Ravi Krishna, Sampath Raj and debutants Yasmin Ponnappa, Guru Somasundaram and Master Vasanth. Produced by S. P. B. Charan's Capital Film Works, the musical score of the film were composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by P. S. Vinod and editing handled by the duo Praveen K. L.-N. B. Srikanth.

The film was launched on 18 December 2008, with its principal photography being completed by late 2009, which was followed by a lengthy post-production phase. It ran into difficulties as the regional censor board in Chennai raised objection against the film, giving it an adult rating besides demanding 52 cuts. After screening and becoming approved by the Tribunal in Delhi, the film was released worldwide on 10 June 2011, where it received critical acclaim from critics, but underperformed at box-office. Despite its failure, it gained recognition over the years, and is now regarded as a cult film in Tamil and Indian cinema.

Aaranya Kaandam had its world premiere on 30 October 2010 at the South Asian International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Film. Subsequently, the film was honoured with two National Film Awards for Best Editing and Best First Film of a Director category respectively.