Thiagarajan Kumararaja directorial 'Super Deluxe', which released a week back has been receiving rave reviews from the audience and critics alike.
Gayathrie Shankar, who played a crucial role in 'Super Deluxe', shared interesting details about how Thiagarajan Kumararaja convinced her to take up the role in the film.
During her recent interview with TylerDurden and Kinofist, she said, "As far as I know, I thought 'Super Deluxe' cast was fixed and they had shot some portions were already shot. Then Thiagarajan told me that he has a role for me in the film. I was genuinely surprised."
"He was very modest while approaching me. He said I will be playing the role of a mother of a small child, and was skeptical if I would accept the role. He even went on to ask me to spit on him if needed. My mind froze the moment he said he has a role for me. Whatever he said after that didn't register in my mind. So that's how it happened," she added.
Gayathrie, during a recent interaction with TNIE, recalled how she fell seriously ill before the start of 'Super Deluxe'.
She said, "I started vomiting several times a day. By the time the shooting date came, I’d lost all the weight I had painstakingly gained!”
At the shooting spot, she felt weak due to vomiting several times day. And anxious too, never knowing when the next bout would strike. “I could not hold down any food at all. I would vomit every time I ate anything. Luckily, I didn’t throw up during any take. Somehow I never felt sick when I was working. But as soon as my shot was over, I would puke in the break time! So I began getting afraid of breaks.”
While she was struggling to cope with her illness, she found director Thiagarajan Kumararaja and his team very supportive. “I could only eat biscuits for many days. Slowly I began getting better. My director was so considerate, he would get me home-cooked food. Even the assistant directors began doing that. I felt so loved and grateful to be taken care of like that. Without their help, I wouldn’t have made it through that shoot in the condition I was in.”
As for her lean and weak look, the director found it didn’t matter after all and that she fit her part on screen despite her illness.
'Super Deluxe' stars Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Mysskin, Samantha Akkineni, Gayathrie Shankar, Mirnalini Ravi, Ramya Krishnan, Bagavathi Perumal in prominent roles.
(With inputs from ENS)