When National Awards winners get chatty

Yet another National Awards ceremony is upon us, and as has been the norm for a few years now, Tamil cinema has once again been recognised for its achievements.
When National Awards winners get chatty

Yet another National Awards ceremony is upon us, and as has been the norm for a few years now, Tamil cinema has once again been recognised for its achievements. Naagarajan Subramanian captures the
excitement, as the winners share their reactions with CE

Stills from 24 and Joker
Stills from 24 and Joker

Honestly, I didn’t expect to win this award. I dedicate my film to every person who has ever had the courage to lend voice against social issues. The many uprisings I have witnessed around me inspired me to make this movie. Also, as a journalist, I covered many pressing problems. I put all those experiences into this film. As for making the protagonist seem like a mad man, you should know that that was the case from the days of Bharathiyar. Anybody who cares for the society gets quickly branded as a mad man. Even the present political situation makes a mockery of the people. As a citizen, I am angry over quite a few problems like the exploitation of natural resources. As somebody with an agricultural background, I hope that the strike for the welfare of farmers gains more momentum. I hope that these issues get sorted quickly. I hope that Joker did its bit in accelerating change.

— Raju Murugan, director of Joker,  Best Feature Film (Tamil)

I  have to credit director Vikram Kumar for this award. He gave me the chance to enhance my scope and explore my abilities. I’ll forever be indebted to him. Shooting 24 wasn’t easy, as there was a lot of VFX involved. Suriya also played three roles, which complicated matters as a cinematographer. As it is, our jobs are tough. Cinematography requires tremendous patience and requires that you be tolerant at all times, even if everything, from the weather to the schedule, seems unfavourable. I’ll always remember 24
for one of the toughest scenes I’ve ever shot as a cinematographer. In one scene — one frame, in fact — we had to bring in all the Suriya characters at once, and yet, effectively differentiate between them. Much credit to Vikram Kumar’s script for this win.

— Cinematographer Tirru,Best Production Design for 24

Category: Best Playback Singer - Male
Winner: Sundarayyar for ‘Jasmine u’ (Joker)

While Sundarayyar was unavailable for comments, the song’s composer Sean Roldan is happy that he played a small part in the singer getting his award. “It was director Raju Murugan’s idea that we use the ‘jasmine’ word. Back then, I definitely didn’t think that the song would become this popular. I chose Sundarayyar from about five singers as I was very impressed with his pronunciation. With a rural background, he had never seen a studio before and took some time to warm up. I saw that he was getting comfortable when we went for a rehearsal. Barely 20 minutes later, he delivered the song, and now, has got the National Award as well. We tried to keep it all simple, and it has paid off.”

The producer SR Prabhu is quite pleased about the recognition that has come Joker’s way. “We have always believed in doing what we like. That’s our secret. Today, there’s a big debate over the relevance of songs. And Joker was a script that required songs. The award stands testament to that. In our more recent film, Maanagaram, we didn’t need too many songs. It all depends on the project. As long as we respect the audience and do what the project demands, we will have a winner. All said, let me also share my disappointment that the lead actor, Guru Somasundaram, didn’t win the Best Actor award. But I’m sure he will win many awards in the future.”

Category: Best Production Deisgn
Winner: 24

Rajasekar Karpoorasundra Pandian, CEO of 2D Entertainment which produced 24, is a delighted man. “All these awards coming the way of 24 are a result of Vikram Kumar’s work. He took four hours to narrate the script. He did this with each department to make sure they were able to visualise every intricate detail. We had everything sketched. Right from the pre-production till the very end, every aspect of the production was meticulously planned. We were all highly motivated, and when you are as driven, unforeseen circumstances also become easy to handle. You learn to solve small differences amicably. For example, in the case of discussions held during the times of pre-production, we made the decision to ensure that the three departments of VFX, cinematography and production design would at all times be equally involved.In my opinion, any film that is able to convert 60 per cent of its original idea into visuals is successful. With 24, Vikram Kumar was able to convert over 80 per cent of it. That speaks for itself.”

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