He has written more than 800 short stories and is still busy penning a number of short stories for Tamil magazines and papers. From a writer, Babu K Vishwanath has now taken a big step — direction. He is making his debut as a director with the movie Kandha and it is all set to hit the screens in the first week of August. Shares Babu, “I’m writing short stories under my pen name Thiruvarur Babu for more than 20 years now.”
From a writer, how did you become a director? “I always wanted to become a director and that’s how I started writing short stories. I was also a journalist with Tamilan Express for seven years. That’s how I got the chance to assist director Saran in Jay Jay, Attagasam and Vasool Raja MBBS,” says Babu and continues, “All my short stories deal with social issues and my debut film Kandha too portrays the same. Karan was so excited when I narrated the script to him. Mithra debuts as heroine in the film. The film also stars Rajesh and Riyas Khan.”
Is Kandha inspired by one of your short stories? “No. But I have used one of my short stories for the climax of the film and the 20-minute climax will be the special highlight of the film. It will definitely be new to Tamil cinema. The film also talks about a teacher-student relationship. Rajesh plays the role of the teacher — Varadharajan and Karan as his students. I was inspired by a headmaster called Varadharajan in my school days and I have used the name for the teacher’s role,” explains the director.
“Karan comes back from Malaysia to Tanjore and is shocked to see that his place has become the hub for rowdies. He joins hands with Riyas Khan and tackles the worst situation. Though violence will be throughout the film, the 20-minute climax will preach peace. Vivek is as usual excellent in his comic scenes and for Karan this film will be a milestone in his career,” says Babu.
The film is produced by Pazhanivel and Sakthi R Selva has scored the music. With this film, Babu hopes to make his presence felt not only in the literary world but also in the film industry.