Ganesh Vinayak’s film Veera Sivaji will mark the return of actor ‘Baby’ Shamili to the Tamil film industry. Shamili, who impressed audiences as a child artiste in several films including her debut in Mani Ratnam’s Anjali (1990), will be playing the female lead opposite Vikram Prabhu in this film which sources say will be a family entertainer.
Says Ganesh Vinayak, “My film is a proper entertainer in which Vikram Prabhu plays Sivaji, a call-taxi driver. He usually drives in Puducherry. However, when he has to go from Pondy to Kanyakumari, an incident happens and that’s what the film is about. Shamili plays a job seeker who has finished her education. The two meet after they have an accident and eventually fall in love.”
The name of Shamili’s character in the film happens to be Anjali. Point that out to the director and he nods in agreement, knowing that he would be asked about it. “We deliberately named her character Anjali as Shamili is known for her phenomenal role in the superhit film Anjali. We wanted to capitalise on it,” admits Ganesh pointing out that she was chosen for the role as she suited it.
“We were considering several other heroines when we received her pictures and found that she would be perfect to play this role,” says Ganesh, who adds that Vikram Prabhu and Shamili were comfortable working together as they knew each other even before they began shooting for the film. “Shamili was Vikram Prabhu’s sister’s classmate and they knew each other reasonably well,” he says.
Work on the film, which has an impressive star cast including Robo Shankar and John Vijay, is almost complete. “Only the songs are left. Apart from that, the entire film has been finished. We intend to release it in May this year,” he adds.