Yet another person from Vijay’s family has entered the film industry. Sneha, granddaughter of filmmaker SA Chandrasekaran and niece of actor Vijay, has made the plunge into direction with the remake of her thaatha’s classic, 'Sattam Oru Iruttarai'.
Though Sneha says her movie is a remake of the 1981-film, a lot of changes have been in the new version. “What you are going to see will be completely different from the original flick, except for the basic storyline. There are new characters in the remake, one of which is the cop that thaatha is playing,” she says. Sneha’s grandmom is SAC’s sister.
It’s known that actor Vijay is producing the film and Sneha says she chose to remake 'Sattam Oru Iruttarai' as she wanted her grandfather’s first flick to be hers too.
The movie is yet to be titled, but most of the talkie portions have been shot with only songs left to be canned. Actors Pia Bajpai, Bindhu Madhavi and Reemma Sen are playing key roles in the film, while debutant Thaman Kumar plays the protagonist, reprising Vijayakanth’s role from the original.
Director Sneha is a second year student of BSc Visual Communication in Loyola College and juggles both her studies and filmmaking. “I have college only in the afternoon. So I shoot in the morning hours and sometimes avail leave to shoot the movie. My college management is happy about what I’m doing, and the actors are cooperative, understanding and sweet. I’m happy to work with them,” says Sneha.
The film has had its share of controversies, including change of the lead from Vikram Prabhu. Was that because of her granddad’s intrusions?
“'Sattam Oru Iruttarai' is thaatha’s baby and I obviously go to him for clarifications. But that doesn’t have anything to do with change in the lead. Vikram Prabhu got other film offers, discussed that with us and then opted out of this movie,” she says.
Sneha says she has always had a passion for filmmaking. “I have wanted to direct movies since childhood but my relatives made me wait as they thought I was too young. They let me do what I wanted to, after I turned 18,” smiles Sneha.
Does actor Vijay appear in the movie?
“No. He is not at all in film. The story didn’t require him and I don’t want to approach him just because I can. He is a big star busy with his own projects. I may direct him in future,” says Sneha.