With one of the most inspiring actors in the film business today, a director to reckon with for strong scripts and interesting screenplay, and a producer for whom grandeur has become a byword, 'Kandhasamy' has evolved to be a sure watch-out this summer.
And supremely confident is how the film’s director Susi Ganesan comes across, sure of making it to the big league with this film, given its roaring business. Kandhasamy’s city distribution rights have been sold at a whopping Rs 4.01 crore to Abirami Ramanathan.
“It isn’t just another fantasy,” director Susi Ganesan begins, when his movie is referred to as just another Robin hood adventure. “It’s fantasy with logic,” he reveals. “A critic once said films are all about how brilliantly the audience is fooled and this fantasy supported with logic will fool you well,” he smiles.
“The film is a larger-than-life hero’s story but I’ve taken care to ensure that it is not impossible,” Ganesan then explains, saying that a social message about care for the society will be 'Kandhasamy’s underlying theme. “I’m not randomly preaching in it. For instance, there is a scene that suggests that the rich can actually adopt villages or localities or atleast their own streets. It's not an idea that isn't feasible. In that sense, I've ensured that my film is real. The 'Kandhasamy' team has actually adopted two such villages near Madurai, and the model is working very well,” he says to validate his message in the film.
In walking the tightrope about a fantasy that can have logical explanation, director Susi Ganesan thinks he has raised the bar in Tamil cinema. "And when we shot the film abroad and told them what the movie was about, they could easily connect to the problems we address. That ensured the universality of the theme and that is success in itself," Ganesan then explains, revealing that this had led to his movie being dubbed and released in Spanish and Italian.
But that doesn’t make 'Kandhaswamy' a heavy, sermonising watch alone, with its high-gloss look and feel costing big bucks. The movie, which as been in the making for a year now, is being produced by Kalaipuli Dhanu at over Rs 30 crores. “We’ve shot it like a Hollywood film. And locations like the Ascoli Pichano stadium in Italy, which has been elusive even to Hollywood filmmakers, have been captured through our lenses,” the director exclaims, referring to Shriya’s introduction song in the film, Alegra. It is believed that the stadium was inaccessible even when it was tried for a stunt sequence for Quantum of Solace. "It would have costed many lakhs to erect a set of that magnitude. Architecturally brilliant, the stadium has made the song look like no other ever in Tamil cinema," he challenges.
And if his 'Thiruttu Payale' consciously bore the look of a realistic film with the way it was shot, 'Kandhasamy' will have a characteristic look too. “I’ve avoided using blue in any scene in the film. Even the sky will look aqua green and mot blue. I think the movie gets its right look only without blue in any frame,” the director then reveals. “But not just in colour, but in the theme or the plot, 'Kandhasamy is a new venture for me. It has expanded my creative horizons,” Ganesam confidently declares.
Vikram's looks
"Don't call it different get ups of the actor," Susi Ganesan warns, referring to the different looks, ranging from a woman to an old man that Vikram has tried for the film.
"It's not six roles. It's also not six different disguises that the actor tries to escape with, as commonly perceived. In fact, there is no cat-and-mouse chasing in the film at all," the director explains, adding that VIkram's actual role in the film should remain a suspense. "His looks suggest a lot of things but let me keep that a suspense for the audience," he says. Following 'Kandhasamy', director Susi Ganesan and Vikram will team up for another movie in 2010 as well.
Shriya gets tomboyish
Actress Shriya, who has yet revealed the actor in her, could well receive a break in the film. "She doesn't just score in glamour in the film. She has a meaty role to play, from a proper introduction song," the director reveals.
"And like the promos of the movie indicate, she plays a tomboyish character in the film," Susi Ganesan adds.
sharadha@epmltd.com
