THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To have a wider range of market you need to lose your identity, said National Award winning Tamil director Vetrimaran in a press conference held on the sidelines of the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala. “But I refuse to risk my identity,” said the director who added that he is trying to make his own market.
“When the Hollywood films started speaking Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi the local industry started suffering. Films like ‘Harry Potter’ have a huge audience among children,” he said.
He said it was his track record in creating hits that convinced the producer and actors of ‘Adukalam’ to go ahead. “They relied on the commercial success of my previous film,” he said.
He said his film ‘Adukalam’ is inspired by ‘Amores Perros’, a Latin American film directed by Alejandro González Inarritu which revolves around dog fighting. “If they can make a film dealing with dog fight why can’t we make one on rooster fight which is a common practice all over the world?” he asked.
He also added that he didn’t want to make a casteist statement through his film though Adukalam touches upon the topic of casteism. Vetrimaran says any ethnic theme at some point becomes universal.
“The theme of professional jealousy in my film has a universal appeal. Audience all across the globe can relate to it,” said Maran who added that his next film ‘Vadachennai’ will be set against the backdrop of North Chennai’s underworld.
He clarified that his first film ‘Polladhavan’ is not inspired by the celebrated ‘Bicycle Thieves’, but based on a real-life incident. He added that films are not a propaganda medium and with each film he is trying to reduce the element of violence in it.
“While writing a script we cleanse ourselves and the glorification of violence has been considerably reduced in my second film,” he said. He added that reading books and watching good films should be the priority for aspiring filmmakers. “Literature is a medium through which one can learn a lot, and they can be easily adapted into films too,” he added.