He’s among the most wanted stuntmen in KTown. But the young Dhilip Subbarayan, son of legendary stunt choreographer Super Subbarayan, has set his sights in another direction now. He’s turning producer with his debut film, Anjalai. CE caught up with him for a chat to find out more.
He had choreographed stunts for over 50 films in Tamil, Malyalam and Telugu. His current crop of films include Raja Rani, Naiyyandi and Vanakkam Chennai. But it seems that Dhilip wants to be more deeply involved with cinema, than just delivering knock out punches. Though stunts are his current calling, he prepared himself for cinema at an early age, right after school. “I did my diploma in multimedia technology at the SAE School of Audio Engineering and later did a diploma in digital filmmaking itself,” he grins. He explains his move towards production, “ I actually started off my film career as an assistant director. I worked with Pushkar - Gayathri in Oram Po and with Kumararaja in Aaranya Kaandam. But as luck would have it, I turned stunt choreographer, following in my father’s footsteps. So, though I can’t direct right now, I thought why not produce quality films instead?”
Dhilip’s newly formed Farmer’s Master Plan Productions’s debut film is titled Anjalai. Says Dhilip, “Vimal, Pasupathy and Nanditha are the leads, while the director is debutant Thangam Saravanan, who assisted Moorthy, S Ratnakumar, SJ Suryah and Shakti earlier.” The film is a full length comedy with none other than Dhilip’s father handling the stunts. The music is by Gopi Sundar while Praveen-Srikanth are the editors. Newbie Ravi Kannan, who assisted KV Guhan and Richard Nathan earlier, handles the camera.
With his connections in filmdom, Dhilip could have chosen to produce a film with any of the big names. So why did he go in for a debut director? “I liked his script and that was the clinching factor,” says Dhilip. The shoot started on October 6. The film is based in an area near Madurai. A giant set worth `1.25 crores has been set up, to create the look of a small township. Dhilip promises, “Not just adults, even kids will love this film!” About the future, the man whose currently doing stunts for Arima Nambi and Vallavanaka Pullum Ayudham, says, “I will continue as stunt choreographer. But anyone with a good script can also approach me for my future productions.”