Unlike many of his colleagues, director Balaji Sakthivel is not reluctant to reveal the story of his next movie Vazhaku En 18/9 that is expected to hit the screens later this month.
“The film is about two couples. One of the love stories is between a guy who works in a push-cart eatery and a girl from a nearby slum. The other pair in the movie are school students living in a posh apartment in front of the eatery. The two couples obviously belong to different socio-economic classes and while they pass each other on a daily basis, they don’t interact. But later, they all become part of a legal case and that is what Vazhaku En 18/9 is about,” says Balaji, whose Kadhal that left an indelible mark in Kollywood.
Balaji Sakthivel’s previous film Kalloori drew inspiration from a real-life incident and Vazhaku... seems to have followed suit. “The idea came from news snippets. These are issues which appear on the front page initially and then move to small columns in the later pages. The climax of the movie will be connected to a true incident that happened in North India,” says Balaji Sakthivel.
Point out that his films always focus on the lives of young adults and pat comes the reply, “Even if it is usually about youngsters, each of my stories deals with different issues.”
Balaji Sakthivel is all praises for music director R Prasanna and cinematographer Vijay Milton. “Shankar sir introduced me to Prasanna and we were supposed to work together in Kalloori. He is a genius. He made a music college student, Dhandapani, sing a song and act in it as well — as a beggar! It was the music crew members who suggested that we record the song without instruments. And that’s what we’ve done. Cameraman Vijay Milton was also very supportive. The movie is the result of the crew’s teamwork. I can’t take all the credit,” emphasises Balaji Sakthivel.
Will Balaji Sakthivel foray into production as well? “Yes, if my story doesn’t find a producer! But with so many producers around, I don’t see a necessity for it,” he signs off.