Director Sivaprakash believes that the word hero has become associated with fanaticism, almost worship. “In Peranbum Perungobamum, there are only characters affected by the flow of the story. There aren’t any heroes or heroines or any conventional character tropes,” he says, about his upcoming film. Peranbum Perungobamum is about a man facing casteist oppression in different phases of his life. “In my life’s story, I am the hero, in another person’s life story they are the hero, but taken collectively the story is more important than those involved,” adds Sivaprakash. Peranbum Perungobamum, which is billed as a romantic thriller, marks the directorial debut of Sivaprakash and has music composed by Ilaiyaraaja.
“When it comes to making music for the film, Ilaiyaraaja sir respects the vision of the director,” says Sivaprakash with reverence for the veteran composer, when asked about the score for the film. Peranbum Perungobamum was shot mostly in Theni, around Pannaipuram, where Ilaiyaraaja is from. “Since he is familiar with the place and the culture, the score for the film blended seamlessly with the culture that it sets out to portray.” Talking about Ilaiyaraaja, Sivaprakash mentions that “He wants his music to bring the viewers into the story. He dislikes music that has no connection to the story.” Along with composing the music for Peranbum Perungobamum, Ilaiyaraaja also wrote the lyrics for three songs. The director says that the setting of the film has a major connection to its themes. “Tamil Nadu feels like an entirely different world once you cross south of Chengalpattu. The film shows the culture and faith systems of the small villages and towns from that world,” says Sivaprakash. According to the director, the romantic thriller deals with heavy themes through the eyes of the protagonist. “In the film, we see the phases of a man’s life when he's in school, as an adult, and as a man in his forties. Peranbum Perungobamum shows the oppression faced by the man in those particular phases.” The director says he has done extensive research for the film, including filing an RTI to find out the number of honour killings cases in Tamil Nadu. “The reason the official number of cases filed under the honour killing category is less is because many cases are filed under different reasons and move forward in that direction,” he reveals.
The director says he chose to centre his film on the evils of casteism since the issue has left a deep impact on him. “While in school, I read the lines about untouchability being a sin, an illness, and a crime. But instead of understanding those lines, I just moved past them. For untouchability to go away from society, we need to understand it first so that the next generation can do better.” Peranbum Perungobamum stars Vijith Bachan and Shali Nivekas, along with Mime Gopi, Deepa, Subatra Robert, and Aruldoss. Kamatchi Jeyakrishnan is producing the film under the E5 Entertainment banner, which is set to be released on May 16.