Comedies are the flavour of the season in the film industry. Going by the box office records, audiences seem to be lapping them up, leaving happy producers raking in the moolah. Yet another comedy film with a quaint title — Aindham Thalamurai Sidha Vaidhya Sigamani (ATSVS) — is the next to hit screens. In a chat with CE, director L G Ravichandhar tells us what is special about the film.
A former assistant to Boopathy Pandian, Ravichandhar has directed Masaani, a horror flick, before. Now, he’s taking the comedy route with the Bharath and Nanditha starrer. The film guarantees to be a laughter riot. For, the director has roped in 21 comedians, promising some belly-aching laughter all through. “In every frame, the audience will find something funny, with different comedians each time. It’s a whole comedy pattalam out there!” he says. You have the likes of Manobala, Mayilsamy, Chams, Madan Bob and many more as part of it.
What’s more, Ravichandhar is also introducing Kannada comedian Komal Kumar into Tamil cinema. “From Karnataka, Kavithalayaa Productions has introduced Rajinikanth and Prakash Raj. Now I thought why not rope in Komal Kumar from there, for the same producers. He did Vadivelu’s role in Chandramukhi in Kannada,” he says.
There are several TV shows featuring herbal cures for sexual problems. Does the hero in ATSVS deal with such issues? “Not at all. There are no cheap thrills in my film. Bharath plays an innocent, uneducated boy, belonging to the fifth generation of an affluent family of siddha vaidhyars. He is forced by his father to discontinue school after he gets beaten up for not doing well in academics. Instead, he is trained at home. What happens to such a boy, who has no formal education and is innocent against the wiles of the world? That is my story. In fact, no hero has done such a role in Tamil cinema till now,” he says.
Bharath’s character is based on Sekar, a relative of Ravichandhar. “Sekar lives near Sirkazhi. He was my inspiration. Much of what happened to him, though were serious issues in the past, seem comical now,” he says.
Through the film, Ravichandhar wants to give out a message that parents, however rich, shouldn’t neglect their children’s education, “Wealth won’t last forever. Education arms a kid with the tools to earn his livelihood for life,” he says.
Ravichandar and team did some serious research about herbal cures for the film. “Bharath and I visited many vaidhyars in the interiors of Tamil Nadu to understand the subject well. My film will be informative. We have shown the importance of many rare, powerful and unpublicised herbs — those to cure diabetes, for instance,” says Ravichandhar.
Nandhita plays a college girl. “She has performed excellently, in a subtle but realistic manner,” he says. The unit is off to shoot its last song in Puducherry, set to music by Simon. The makers plan for a July release.