Kollywood’s Newbie Director Abhishan Jeevinth Turns Family Man

The angst, fear and insecurity of a Sri Lankan illegal immigrant family and their touching journey of acceptance by the locals is starkly and strikingly told by director Abhishan Jeevinth in Tourist Family, a runaway Tamil hit of 2025. This Rs 7 crore budget movie which raked in Rs 100 crore, now enjoying its OTT showing is surely a case study for cinematic treatment ….how an everyday event (go to Mandapam, Rameshwaram and watch the fear-ridden ephemeral no man’s land of Sri Lankan immigrants) is turned into a humanitarian story of love, laughter, fear and living in shadows. Tourist Family owes its hit status as much to its director Jeevinth as it does to its cast led by Sasi Kumar, Simran, their kids and a lovable dog, free of anxieties of an immigrant. Jeevinth is already on to his next venture. Oh, and his extraordinary success gave him another milestone …He married his 6th grade sweetheart Akila Ilangovan in a grand wedding at Poes Garden. Jeevinth proposed to her even as he was on stage for the promos of Tourist Family. He chose October to bring Akila into his family, taking a cue from Sasi Kumar and Simran’s love chemistry that holds up the hope that they will not remain tourists, permanently.