CHENNAI: He is one among the many in the industry who feel ‘commercial cinema’ is not a bad word. He just wants to entertain audiences and make them happy. After delivering blockbusters like Boss Engira Bhaskaran (2010), and Oru Kal Oru Kannadi (OK OK) (2011), director Rajesh is upbeat about Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru (KIK), which has GV Prakash, Nikki Galrani and Anandhi in pivotal roles.
He says, “It’s a love story-cum-road film that has all masala elements. Prakash and I knew each other and we used to meet at Arya’s house. One such meeting during Ramzan gave us the idea of making this film.”
Prakash’s Trisha llana Nayanthara impressed the filmmaker as it had the ‘cult’ factor like his Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009). “I gave a gist of the KIK story to Prakash and he wanted to go ahead with it. In fact, Arya knows the script and he suggested Prakash, who is composing the music as well.”
Rajesh tells us how he has always wanted to do films with a lot of over-the-top moments. “I am a natural script writer and I happily pursue stories that fall on my lap. But I make it a point that I connect to it on some level. I am getting to do that now with every film,” he says adding that while other filmmakers do normal movies, he wants to try something different. “I love full-on commerical entertainers, even though I enjoy watching serious films too. At the same time, I don’t believe in over-intellectual filmmaking.”
He has had this story in mind for so long that he has been deeply involved with the plot. “The story revolves around a guy, who’s friends with two girls. Whom will he marry, after many twists, forms the rest of the story. Since it’s a road-film, we have shown the interesting and relatable moments on screen, which would appeal to the audience,” he elaborates. Rajesh was previously criticised for ‘glorifying alcohol consumption’ in movies. He clarifies saying, “Now, I have consciously reduced them. KIK has no such scenes.”
The filmmaker likes to keep things simple and adds that his films are the reflection of his easy-going nature and his strength lies in rom-coms. “When production houses approach me, they say, ‘Let’s make a fun-film’. So, I do what I am good at. I want to make people laugh. We shot in and around Chennai, Puducherry, Tindivanam. We’re almost done and dubbing work is on,” he smiles.
Most of his films have peppy songs and can we expect the same from KIK? “Of course, yes. There’s a thara-local foot-tapping song similar to Lucka Maattikkichi from Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (VSOP) (2015),” he grins.
How does it feel to work without Santhanam since the latter has been a lucky charm in most of his earlier ones? The All in All Azhagu Raja (2013) fame laughs, “I miss him. Our off-screen chemistry reflected on screen effortlessly. It’s tough to replace a person like him; I’d love to direct Santhanam again. But RJ Balaji has done his best.”
The artistses made use of the freedom on sets and that translated on screen. “The comedy scenes are an extension of the fun we had on the sets. Right from Prakash Raj, Robo Shankar to Motta Rajendran and Kovai Sarala — everyone had an amazing time shooting.”
For someone who has developed his own grammar of cinema, Rajesh treats every film as his first. “Films aren’t an independent work of art. It involves a huge team work. Personally, I give importance to dialogues and script-writing. I script my own movies because I think only the person who visualised the story can do justice to it. That formula has worked for me every time,” he says. This is why all his films take at least two years to complete. “Take Bollywood and Malayalam, they complete projects quickly because someone writes the script, who doesn’t direct it,” he observes.
But, he writes dialogues for the other films that he doesn’t direct. “Yes, people approach me; I am cool with it. Ponram directed the Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013) and I wrote the dialogues. I am now writing the dialogues for Venkat Prabhu’s next, which has Kayal Chandran in the lead, produced by Amma Creations T Siva,” he shares.
Quiz him on what has he learnt being in the industry, he responds, “VSOP didn’t do well at the box-office due to many reasons. Primarily, because of the date (when it got released). OK OK released on April 14 (a holiday) and it was a solo release. Now, it’s hard to get ‘all that’. So, I am very careful with the release date of Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru. I don’t want to repeat the mistake that I did in the past.”
What’s next in the pipeline? “Maybe, another film with Jiiva or Arya? I don’t know; haven’t planned it yet,” he says.