Another Journo Turns Director

Muthuramalingam had worked in a few Tamil publications before turning director with Snehavin Kadhalargal
Another Journo Turns Director

Close on the heels of journalist Raju Murugan’s debut direction Cuckoo comes yet another film by a journo wielding the megaphone. Snehavin Kadhalargal is the unusual title of journalist-turned-debut director Muthuramalingam’s film. The story revolves around four boys and a girl — played by Udhayakumar, Thilak, Athif Jai, Rathnakumar and Keerthi Shetty. The film is produced under the  Tamilan Kalaikkodam banner by producer Kalaikkottudhayam, founder of Tamizhan TV.

The music is by newbie Ira Prabhakar. The camera work is by Anand. Speaking about the film, actor Keerthi, who has acted in Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai and Pandiya Naadu among other films, reveals, “The movie is a journey of a girl called Sneha, through different phases of her life. Though the director is making his first movie, I was just amazed at his high level of confidence and belief in himself. He was extremely sure of what he wanted out of us and saw to it that he got it, by encouraging us.” While Udhayakumar is a theatre artiste, Thilak has acted in the movie Kodaikanal, earlier. Rathnakumar has some experience with stage shows, while Athif Jai has done a small role in Aaha Kalyanam.

Debut director Muthuramalingam worked in publications like Nakkeeran and Kumudham for several years before he started a popular magazine called Chatriyan. When the cinema bug bit him, he started working as  an assistant director to Paghaivan fame director Ramesh Krishnan in several films. He has honed his knowledge of cinema working as production executive in Bala’s films before taking the plunge into direction. “The incidents are taken from my own experiences while meeting people over the years. What you will see is a story from a girl’s point of view, which is rare in cinema. The film is centred around a girl who narrates her past to a prospective bridegroom. It’s about the men who have been in her life so far,” he says. Ask him from where he got the inspiration and he says, “Many women friends have shared stories of their affairs with me. I have strung all that together. There is no vulgarity, no dialogues with double meaning, violence or kuthu paattu.” The film has been shot in Coimbatore, Kodaikanal, Chennai and Mahabalipuram.

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