Vaagai Sooda Vaa, a period flick, might be director Sargunam’s second film but it was a script which was thought of much before he made Kalavani. Says the director, “The idea struck me eight years ago. In fact, I wanted to do it as my first film. But what stopped me was the gut feeling that for a debutant director, doing a period flick was a very risky move. That is because the budget factor is generally huge for a period flick and no matter how technically qualified a director feels, he will always feel hesitant to take up a period flick project.”
He adds, “I must say that these eight years have given me the necessary exposure in the industry and that has helped me shape up the screenplay of the film, as I had the script already in hand.”
Set in the 1960s, 1966, to be more precise, Vaagai Sooda Vaa is based on a simple fictional love story interwoven with relevant factual references belonging to that era. “The beauty of a period flick lies in its detailing and there are references to some significant happenings of the era like the Thanga Pathra Thittam, in which an amount of gold was given for a refundable gold bond scheme in connection with the war fund being generated to procure arms and ammunition for the Indian army. A citizen could voluntarily donate any amount of gold depending upon his/her wish and capacity. The year 1966 also saw the Avinashilingam Home Science PO66, the first all woman post-office in India set up in January. Nadodigal fame Shanthini plays a small role as a post woman in this film. Since radio was a popular entertainment medium then, and there were listeners of Ceylon radio station, as Ilangai Vaanoli, we have incorporated some of the popular programmes of those times, like for instance, Pongum Poompunal.
The significance of the title to the period flick he says is justified. “Vaagai is a flower, which symbolised victory in ancient days. mantic comedy.”
