Premgi Amaren seems to have had a good start to the year. Not only is his film Settai, a comic caper, releasing this week, but he has bagged a solo hero film called Maanga, for which he also composes the music. Another film of his, Biriyani directed by his brother Venkat Prabhu, is under production.
In Settai, he plays a cartoonist called Cheenu, for which he underwent an image makeover, sporting curly hair. Santhanam plays his roommate and both of them had a blast along with Arya while shooting for the film in Mumbai and Chennai.
The actor, who ususally works with his brother Venkat Prabhu, had a happy experience working with director R Kannan. “On the first day, I needed five takes for a shot. But soon I understood Kannan’s style of working and his requirement from the character, and began to get it right in the first take itself. Settai was all about being subtle. Kannan emphasised that there should be no overacting or loudness. So I guess I have essayed a Mani Ratnam type of character,” he says. Kannan was earlier assistant to the ace director.
Premgi seems to have had a great time during the Mumbai shoot and spent free hours discovering the city with his co-stars. “Arya knows a lot of people in Mumbai, so we had a lot of fun. Mumbai girls are very beautiful. I miss the them,” he says.
Though he has a song where he dons a rockstar image, he rues the fact that he didn’t get many scenes with heroines Hansika and Anjali. “But Biriyani has made up for it, since I have many scenes with Hansika and Karthi,” he chuckles.
A special song, Laila Laila, in which Arya, Santhanam and Premgi danced with Neetu Chandra has contributed to appeasing him. “We play journalists, who land up at her dance shoot and imagine how it would be to shake a leg with her,” he reveals. Ever the prankster, Premgi says, “I had to hug Neetu for one shot and I kept asking for more takes.”