House Mates
| House Mates | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | T. Raja Vel |
| Written by | T. Raja Vel |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | MS Sathish |
| Edited by | Nishar Sharef |
| Music by | Rajesh Murugesan |
Production companies |
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Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
House Mates is a 2025 fantasy horror film directed by T. Raja Vel starring Darshan, Aarsha Chandini Baiju, Kaali Venkat and Vinodhini in the lead roles. The film is jointly produced by S. Vijayaprakash and S. P. Shakthivel under their Playsmith Studios and South Studios banners respectively and presented by Sivakarthikeyan under his SK Productions banner.[1]
House Mates released in theatres on 1 August 2025.
Cast
[edit]- Darshan as Karthik
- Aarsha Chandini Baiju as Anu
- Kaali Venkat as Ramesh
- Vinodhini as Viji
- Dheena
- Abdool Lee
- Master Henrik
Production
[edit]Darshan who was last seen in Thunivu (2023) and Mukundan Unni Associates (2022) fame Aarsha Chandini Baiju were announced to star in their next comedy fantasy film directed by T. Raja Vel.[2] Debutant director T. Raja Vel had earlier worked as a co-writer[3] in R. Ajay Gnanamuthu's Demonte Colony 2 (2024) and the film stars Kaali Venkat and Vinodhini in important roles.[4] Apart from the lead cast the film also features Dheena, Abdool Lee, and Master Henrik in significant roles.[5]
The technical team consists of MS Sathish as the cinematographer, Nishar Sharef as the editor, and Dinesh as the stunt choreographer.[6] The film is produced by S. Vijayaprakash under Playsmith Studios banner[7] and director S. P. Shakthivel has contributed as the creative producer under his South Studios banner.[8] The film is presented by Sivakarthikeyan's SK Productions banner,[9] marking his second collaboration with Darshan as a producer after Kanaa (2018).[10]
Production began on 4 May 2024 after an inaugural muhurat pooja.[11]
Music
[edit]| House Mates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Language | Tamil | |||
| Producer | Rajesh Murugesan | |||
| Rajesh Murugesan chronology | ||||
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The film has music composed by Neram (2013) and Premam (2015) fame Rajesh Murugesan.[12]
Release
[edit]House Mates released in theatres on 1 August 2025.[13]
Reception
[edit]Akshay Kumar of Cinema Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Housemates, in a nutshell, is a brave and largely successful attempt by debut director Rajavel to tweak the horror genre to accommodate sci-fi elements while also giving it an emotional treatment, thereby not alienating the Tamil audience."[14] Abhinav Subramanian of The Times of India gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Director Rajavel treats his sci-fi premise like homework, dutifully ticking boxes without wondering if any of this makes sense. [...] Housemates feels like someone had one good idea at a party and nobody had the heart to tell them it wasn't enough for a whole movie."[15] Bhuvanesh Chandar of The Hindu wrote "Nevertheless, House Mates is a modest win for Rajavel and producer Sivakarthikeyan, as it reasserts with conviction that sometimes the most unassuming of ideas, simple but elegantly told, can make for a good watch."[16]
References
[edit]- ^ B, Jayabhuvaneshwari (2025-07-31). "Darshan on Sivakarthikeyan presenting House Mates: 'He is like a brother to me…'". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ Features, C. E. (2024-05-04). "Darshan and Aarsha Chandini Baiju to star in debutant Rajavel's film". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "தமிழுக்கு 'ஹவுஸ்மேட்ஸ்' புதிதாக இருக்கும்! - இயக்குநர் நம்பிக்கை". Hindu Tamil Thisai (in Tamil). 2025-07-10. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "Darshan & Kaali Venkat to headline debut filmmaker's horror fantasy". The Times of India. 2025-02-11. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2025-05-02. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "Sivakarthikeyan's banner to present Darshan's horror comedy House Mates; 'We watched it. We loved every bit of it'". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 2025-04-18. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Kumar, Akshay (2025-07-17). "Housemates Trailer: Darshan and Aarsha in a fix as their dreams come crashing down". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "House Mates: Sivakarthikeyan Productions Backed Film Gets A Release Date". Times Now. 2025-07-05. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "House Mates first look out: Darshan stars in fantasy horror comedy; plot, cast REVEALED". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 2025-05-03. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ IANS (2025-07-05). "Darshan, Kaali Venkat-starrer 'House Mates' to hit screens on August 1". www.dtnext.in. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Features, C. E. (2025-07-04). "Sivakarthikeyan Productions backed House Mates gets a release date". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 2025-07-05. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ "Dharshan to team up with debutant director Rajavel". The Times of India. 2024-05-05. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2025-06-19. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Features, C. E. (2025-02-12). "Actor Darshan's next titled House Mates; first look out". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Kumar, Akshay (2025-07-17). "Darshan Interview: Sivakarthikeyan was very excited about Housemates". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Kumar, Akshay (2025-07-30). "Housemates Movie Review: A zany horror that mostly delivers the goods". Cinema Express. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
- ^ "House Mates Movie Review: Time-share comedy needs renovation". The Times of India. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ^ Chandar, Bhuvanesh (2025-07-30). "'House Mates' movie review: Fun, breezy fantasy horror-comedy loses steam". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
External links
[edit]- House Mates at IMDb