CHENNAI: He has made three of the most revered Tamil films in the awards circuit, Moghamul, Bharathi and Periyar, and filmmaker Gnana Rajasekaran thinks there’s a long way to go. This filmmaker, also the director of the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute for Youth Development, says this award should help non-commercial films get a decent release in the state.
Periyar had Sathyaraj playing the role of the Dravidian leader, with Kushboo playing his wife. Rajasekaran reveals that he took more than three years to script this film.
Revealing a penchant for biopics, Rajasekaran recalls that the idea to film the lives of Periyar and Bharathiyar, were inspired decisions. “I’ve tried filming the lives of real life heroes, as against our commercial ones, and I’m very happy that both these films have received national honours,” explains the filmmaker, adding that release and distribution patterns of these films are still not as convenient as they are for mainstream movies. This is an issue he hopes awards will address.
“But Periyar’s success shows that people still opt to watch these movies. Periyar and the issues he dealt with, in fact, are highly relevant to the entire nation even today, which is probably why the film was this successful,” he says. The filmmaker has one regret, however. “I expected Sathyaraj to be declared the Best Actor because the film meant such a complete image transformation for the actor. I’m disappointed that his work hasn’t fetched him the award,” he explains. Apart from Periyar, which has won the best Tamil Film, Sivaji The Boss has won an award for the Best Special Effects, apart from Inimey Naangathaan, which has won the National Award in the Best Animation Film category.