Can one man do everything? Forget ‘Niu Lai’, this Tamil indie film will shock you

In August 2026, a Chinese animated film made by a mother-son duo became the most profitable film in cinema history. Niu Lai, made by Xin Yumeng and Sun Lifang on a budget of roughly $47 to $200 over five years, became a cultural talking point after Chinese social media users began ridiculing it r for its low-quality animation, which only boosted its popularity. Interestingly, a large section of viewers, tired of online AI slop, watched the film to appreciate the human effort that went into making the film.

Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, a Therukoothu artist and filmmaker has been championing human endeavour and spirit in his own way. We all know a live-action film brings together a multitude of art forms, with thousands of technicians working towards realising one individual’s vision. But what if one person did it all? What if they wrote the film, designed the sets, makeup and costumes, performed, shot, edited the footage, composed music, applied computer graphics, and released the film?

This is what 40-year-old Sankagiri Rajkumar has attempted to do with One Man. The feature-length film, recently released in theatres, has been the subject of discussion in the Tamil film industry, with celebrities like Silambarasan TR and RV Udayakumar praising Rajkumar’s effort.

Rajkumar says he was inspired by many similar experimental films made around the world — like films entirely shot inside a car or a room. So, after his debut indie film Vengayam, which was shot entirely with non-actors, Rajkumar thought, “What if I make an entire film all by myself?” And being a fifth-generation artist, he knew he had the capabilities to pull it off. “In Therukoothu, you will have to do it all, be it costume designing, prop-making, or makeup. So perhaps because I hail from that background, I found the process of filmmaking easy to adapt to. I realised that in cinema, even for a ten-second shot, we need a lot of help, but what if I prepare myself day and night and put in the effort required to do it all by myself? That thought gave me the confidence.”

One Man, which Rajkumar started before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, has taken six long years to see the light of day. Moreover, making this film was the only professional endeavour Rajkumar undertook all these years. “You can’t do this part-time. You need to delve into each technical department as deeply as possible. But whenever I felt a bit too exhausted, performing Therukoothu gave me some respite since it’s much more raw and real.” The making of the film too halted several times in the six years, says Rajkumar, citing the many technical challenges he had to go through. “I took a very challenging story to do this experiment. I refrained from designing a story that would make this an easy undertaking; I wrote a story without any restriction, like how I would if I had all the help available to make it.” This meant that even scenes that would usually require more than 100 people now needed to be pulled off by just one man.

One Man tells the story of a man who ends up controlling the whole world with the help of a device. Usually, such experimental films tend to feel a bit tedious, but Rajkumar assures that his film is engrossing. “You wouldn’t even know that it was done by just one man until we say it during the end credits of the film.”

Having pulled off such a feat, Rajkumar should be on cloud nine. Except he is not. He says the producer in him could not support the filmmaker in him as well as he hoped. “Technically, I could find solutions to any challenges. But I struggled with the funds that were needed to promote this film,” he says.

While he is grateful for all the support he received within the film industry, Rajkumar hopes the Tamil Nadu Government supports experiments like One Man. “Around the world, many governments support such experimental movies. They even erect pavilions for such projects in film festivals. I approached the government with a request to platform my film, but I have not received a positive response yet.”

Sankagiri Rajkumar is now planning to release One Man directly on YouTube for free. “I don’t have a choice. At least I managed to get a few theatres to screen my film, but the OTT business needs a strong theatrical performance for it to consider my product. One Man has unfortunately been caught in this commercial cinema cycle.”