# Conjuring Kannappan
**Conjuring Kannappan** (கான்ஜூரிங் கண்ணப்பன்) is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language horror comedy film written and directed by Selvin Raj Xavier in his directorial debut and produced by AGS Entertainment. It stars [Sathish](https://www.edgepedia.org/sathish) as Kannappan, a job-seeking game designer who plucks a feather from a haunted dreamcatcher and becomes trapped in a dream world where injuries and death manifest in reality, alongside [Regina Cassandra](https://www.edgepedia.org/regina-cassandra), Nassar, Anandaraj, Saranya Ponvannan, VTV Ganesh, and Redin Kingsley.[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81704206?fromWatch=true)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 8 December 2023, theatrical, Tamil language[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan) |
| Director / writer | Selvin Raj Xavier, his directorial debut[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan) |
| Production | AGS Entertainment; producers Kalpathi S. Aghoram, Kalpathi S. Suresh, Kalpathi S. Ganesh, Archana Kalpathi[3](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/conjuring-kannappan/cast-crew.html) |
| Runtime / certificate | 2 hours 20 minutes; U/A in India, TV-14 on Netflix[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81704206?fromWatch=true) |
| Music | Yuvan Shankar Raja; cinematography by S. Yuva, editing by Pradeep E. Ragav[3](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/conjuring-kannappan/cast-crew.html) |
| Streaming | Netflix, which acquired the digital rights before release[4](https://www.ottplay.com/news/conjuring-kannappan-this-leading-platform-has-bagged-the-digital-rights-of-the-regina-cassandra-sathish-film/5d723968b2712) |
| Audience rating | 6.0/10 on IMDb from about 1,400 ratings[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29230279/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Kannappan, called KP (Sathish), is a gamer looking for a job. As he prepares for an interview, the house runs out of water, and he opens a well that has not been used in years. There he finds a haunted dreamcatcher and plucks a feather from it.[6](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/conjuring-kannappan-review-sathishs-film-offers-sporadic-laughs-2473713-2023-12-08) From then on, every time he sleeps he is transported to a palatial mansion haunted by ghosts, and whatever happens to him in that dream world leaves a mark on his real body; if he dies there, he dies in reality too.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms)
The cursed device eventually draws his family and hangers-on into the same dream: his retired father Anjanenjan ([VTV Ganesh](https://www.edgepedia.org/vtv-ganesh)), his mother Lakshmi ([Saranya Ponvannan](https://www.edgepedia.org/saranya-ponvannan)), his uncle Sekar (Namo Narayanan), the local rowdy Devil Armstrong ([Anandaraj](https://www.edgepedia.org/anandaraj)) who is after KP for money, and his psychiatrist Dr. Johnny (Redin Kingsley).[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms) • [8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2023/Dec/08/conjuring-kannappan-movie-review-interesting-ideas-elevate-this-conventional-horror-comedy-50224.html) The exorcist Ezhumalai (Nassar) explains that whoever plucks the feather enters the same dream, and the group must find a key that will break the spell and let them escape the haunted mansion alive.[6](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/conjuring-kannappan-review-sathishs-film-offers-sporadic-laughs-2473713-2023-12-08) • [7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms) The Times of India review places the haunted palace in 1930, occupied by two British ghosts.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms)
## Production
Selvin Raj Xavier, who wrote the story, screenplay, and dialogues, had previously worked as an assistant director to Chimbu Deven and Sumanth Radhakrishnan.[9](https://talksofcinema.com/?p=22711) The film was shot in Chennai on large sets resembling ancient buildings.[9](https://talksofcinema.com/?p=22711) TamilMDb reports that the film was announced in September 2023, with principal photography already completed before the announcement.[1](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan)
The cast combines Tamil comic performers with foreign actors: Elli Avram, Jason Shah, and Benedict Garrett appear in roles including Dr. Magdalene Ellis, William Blake, and Commander Robert Langdon.[3](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/conjuring-kannappan/cast-crew.html) • [10](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/conjuring-kannappan) In October 2023, producer Archana Kalpathi announced that Netflix had taken the digital rights, following the production house's earlier collaboration on *Love Today*.[4](https://www.ottplay.com/news/conjuring-kannappan-this-leading-platform-has-bagged-the-digital-rights-of-the-regina-cassandra-sathish-film/5d723968b2712)
## Reception
**Critical response.** Reviewers agreed that the premise was the film's strongest asset. M Suganth of *The Times of India*, rating it 3.0 out of 5, called it a "mouth-wateringly inventive premise" in which characters are trapped in a dream world rather than a real location, and credited the ensemble of comic performers with elevating even clichéd moments, while finding the horror generic, a series of jump scares that stop being scary after the third or fourth instance.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms) Janani K of *India Today* gave 2 out of 5, writing that the film offers sporadic laughs, that the blaring soundtrack induces earache rather than fear, and that the haunted-dreamcatcher concept was not used to its potential.[6](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/conjuring-kannappan-review-sathishs-film-offers-sporadic-laughs-2473713-2023-12-08) *Cinema Express* rated it 2.5 out of 5, praising the director's conviction and the comic set pieces, including the family's attempts to stay awake by watching *The Conjuring*, playing antakshari, and attending a funeral to wail all night, but judging that the film falls into the very template it tries to escape in its second half.[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2023/Dec/08/conjuring-kannappan-movie-review-interesting-ideas-elevate-this-conventional-horror-comedy-50224.html)
**Audience and commercial performance.** The film holds a 6.0/10 rating on IMDb from about 1,400 users.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29230279/ratings/) According to the Tamil Film Active Producers Association's 2024 trade guide, of the 192 Tamil films made in 2023 on budgets under Rs. 50 million (Rs. 5 crore), only five succeeded at the box office, and *Conjuring Kannappan* was one of them, alongside *DaDa*, *Good Night*, *Parking*, and *Joe*.[11](https://tfapa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/trade-guide-june-2024-pages-_-print-file-30.05.24-compressed.pdf)
## Genre context
The film works within the Tamil horror comedy tradition and acknowledges it directly: *Cinema Express* notes a subtle dig at the *Aranmanai* and *Kanchana* franchises, and observes that where earlier horror comedies used religious methods to vanquish evil, this film takes the [Ed and Lorraine Warren](https://www.edgepedia.org/ed-and-lorraine-warren) route of paranormal investigation through its exorcist characters.[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2023/Dec/08/conjuring-kannappan-movie-review-interesting-ideas-elevate-this-conventional-horror-comedy-50224.html) The same review compares its dream premise with *A Nightmare on Elm Street*, judging that *Conjuring Kannappan* falls short of exploring dreams as an intricate narrative.[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2023/Dec/08/conjuring-kannappan-movie-review-interesting-ideas-elevate-this-conventional-horror-comedy-50224.html) Netflix categorizes it as a horror comedy with supernatural horror and ghost elements, available with Tamil audio and subtitles in Arabic, English, Spanish, Hindi, and Portuguese.[2](https://www.netflix.com/title/81704206?fromWatch=true)
## References
1. [Conjuring Kannappan (2023), TamilMDb](https://www.tamilmdb.com/movie/7057/2023-conjuring-kannappan)
2. [Conjuring Kannappan, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/81704206?fromWatch=true)
3. [Conjuring Kannappan Cast & Crew, FilmiBeat](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/conjuring-kannappan/cast-crew.html)
4. [Conjuring Kannappan: Netflix bags the digital rights, OTTplay](https://www.ottplay.com/news/conjuring-kannappan-this-leading-platform-has-bagged-the-digital-rights-of-the-regina-cassandra-sathish-film/5d723968b2712)
5. [Conjuring Kannappan (2023) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29230279/ratings/)
6. ['Conjuring Kannappan' Review: Sathish's film offers sporadic laughs, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/reviews/story/conjuring-kannappan-review-sathishs-film-offers-sporadic-laughs-2473713-2023-12-08)
7. [Conjuring Kannappan Movie Review: A horror comedy with a unique premise and decent laughs, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/conjuring-kannappan/movie-review/105847335.cms)
8. [Conjuring Kannappan Movie Review: Interesting ideas elevate this conventional horror comedy, Cinema Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2023/Dec/08/conjuring-kannappan-movie-review-interesting-ideas-elevate-this-conventional-horror-comedy-50224.html)
9. ['Conjuring Kannappan' is a comedy-horror-fantasy multi-starrer produced by AGS Entertainment, Talks of Cinema](https://talksofcinema.com/?p=22711)
10. [Conjuring Kannappan streaming: where to watch online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/conjuring-kannappan)
11. [Tamil Cinema Trade Guide, Tamil Film Active Producers Association](https://tfapa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/trade-guide-june-2024-pages-_-print-file-30.05.24-compressed.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Tamil films of the 2020s › Tamil films of 2022 and 2023*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license