His first film made heads turn and his next is also likely to do just the same. Director Manikandan, who impressed audiences across the nation with Kakka Muttai, says his next film Kutrame Dhandanai is all-set to hit the screens.
“Vidharth plays the hero of this film, which has two female leads, Pooja and Aishwarya Rajesh. It is a gripping crime thriller. The film has music by Ilaiyaraaja,” begins Manikandan, who tells us that Kutrame Dhandanai should have been his debut film.
“Vidharth and I agreed to do a film even before Kaaka Muttai happened. However, due to an unforeseen delay and location problems, we had to set this aside. As a result, I had six months on my hands and I decided that I would do a film by myself. That’s how Kaaka Muttai happened and the project grew when Vetrimaran offered to produce the film. When I completed the film, I went back to work with Vidarth to shoot Kutrame Dhandanai,” he explains.
So what is Kutrame Dhandanai? Says Manikandan, “This film will be completely different from Kaaka Muttai but will be at the same pace as that film…maybe even slower. A murder takes place and there is only one eye-witness. Interestingly, this eye-witness too has a defect in his eye. What the defect is I cannot say,” he explains with a chuckle.
“The film will be on the psychology underlining the guilt element. There are no songs but the background score is stunning,” he’s quick to point out, and adds that the re-recording is one of the highlights of this film.
“Raaja sir took only seven days to do the re-recording for this film, and I must add that those were the best days I’ve ever worked. While music directors usually give you music to underline the scene, Raaja sir pays attention to what the director wants to communicate and gauges the mood. It is the mood of a scene that his music underlines,” he gushes on.
After having finished Kutrame Dhandanai, Manikandan is now working on a film with Vijay Sethupathi. “Titled Aandavan Kattalai, the film is a realistic drama. We haven’t yet zeroed in on the female lead,” he says.