‘Kangal Irandal..’, the evergreen hit from ‘Subramaniyapuram’ still remains fresh in our minds even after seven years. And, the man who composed the mellifluous song, James Vasanthan, will don the garb of a director through ‘Vaanavil Vaazhke’.
For people who are used to watching Hollywood movies and TV series like ‘High School Musical’ and ‘Glee’, James wields out a Tamil musical through his debut venture.
“’Vaanavil Vaazhke’ is a first true musical feature film in India. In a true musical, the actors will not only be delivering their dialogues but also singing their own songs and playing their own instruments. In this film, all the actors sing their own parts,” says James who was in the city for the film’s pre-release promotions.
‘Vaanavil Vaazhke’ is a feel-good musical entertainer with new faces and it took James over two years to zero in on his characters. “I was not in search of actors but singers and musicians for the film,” says James who has cast three Malayalis in the movie in lead roles. Jithin Raj, who rose to fame by being the first runner up for a Malayalam music reality show, plays Jack, a singer and guitarist, in the movie.
“Since his character plays guitar, I asked Jithin to take guitar lessons and he picked the instrument real fast,” says James who has also penned the script of the film.
Cassandra Premji and Radhika George are the other Malayalis in the movie.
“Cassandra plays Vineetha, a girl with lot of attitude, while Radhika plays a drummer,” says James who has composed music for movies like ‘Pasanga’ and ‘Eesan’. The movie revolves around a group of 10 youngsters - boys and girls band- from two different colleges. “The best time we have in our life is college days. Hence I gave the title ‘Vaanavil Vaazhke’ which means rainbow life,” says James.
The music director has explored myriad genres in the film. “There are 17 songs in the film and people will be shocked if you expect it to be another ‘Subramaniyapuram’ because I have used a lot of contemporary, pop and pop rock music,” says James.
‘God Bless Saturday’, written by James and sung by actors Jithin, Janani Rajan, Shilvi Sharon, Maya and Niranjana, has already become a hit in television. Ask him what prompted him to direction, he says, “Being a musician, I always wanted to be a part of a musical. I waited for so long for someone to take a musical but it never happened. I even asked Sasikumar (director of ‘Subramaniyapuram’) but he said it was not cut for him. And, then ultimately I decided to direct my dream.”
Jose Selvaraj, Jonathan, Shilvi Sharon, Sai Sankar, Janani Rajan, Maya, Gaana Shiva and Dr Sowmya form rest of the cast. The camera is cranked by R K Prathap, editing by Sabu Joseph and choreography by John Britto. The film produced by Oceana AJR Cine Arts will hit the marquee on March 18.