CHENNAI: This photo was taken for the film, Pillai Nila, in which Sathyaraj played a guest role. I think I took the first ever still of Sathyaraj, and it was Sivakumar’s recommendation which got me this opportunity. Everyone’s heard about Sathyaraj’s sense of humor, but not enough is said about his generosity. He is only a villain on screen. Off-screen, he is quite a wonderful person.
He often gifts clothes to technicians, not just for festivals, but to mark the end of every film of his. I think he has the knack of understanding audience sensibilities. Take the case of Nooravathu Naal, for example.
Director Manivannan, some assistant directors, Mohan, Sathyaraj and I were there at the preview of this film. There were certain portions that were quite ambiguous. Sathyaraj suggested the inclusion of link shots to make the screenplay clearer. And he was right, I think.
For some films, he has been a part of the story discussions too, mainly on account of how attuned he is to audiences. Punctuality is another inspiring quality of his. For a shoot that is scheduled to begin at 6 o’clock, he will always be on the sets by 5. There have been cases where he’d patiently wait from morning till evening, so he can get started with his shot. He never complained and, in fact, he’d often say he was getting paid for the entire day’s shoot. He is a principled person like that, and I’m glad I could take this photo of his.
(The photographer has taken stills for more than 500 films over the last three decades.)