Vemal and Anjali will be seen together yet again in Mapla Singam, the debut direction of N Rajasekhar. Having assisted director Ezhil earlier, Rajasekhar is trying his hand on a complete comedy entertainer, the flavour of the season these days.
“The story is set around Theni,” says Rajasekhar. “Vemal plays the nephew of the village chairman and is busy with katta panchayats, court cases, etc. During one such usual activity, he runs into Anjali, who is a junior lawyer. Their initial meetings are far from sweet, but how they resolve their issues forms the story. It’s a full-blown comedy with a vast star cast.”
Good characterisation is one of the secrets of a successful film, all the more important, to bring in the laughs for a comedy. Rajasekhar seems to have done his homework well and has a big line up of comedians. “Actor Ramadoss, who played Muniskanth in Mundasappatti, has changed his name to Muniskanth on screen now, thanks to the immense appeal of his character.
He will be seen as Anjali’s mama paiyyan in the film. He will be seen in his natural avatar,” says Rajasekhar.
Kali Venkat and Soori play Vemal’s relatives and will add to the comedy quotient.
Lollu Sabha Swaminathan, Singamuthu and Mayilsamy will do their bit in bringing in the laughs. What’s more, a foreigner, who is part of AR Rahman’s music school, has done a pivotal role as a cultural photographer. “He has dubbed for himself in Tamil,” says Rajasekhar.
Recalling his experiences while shooting the film, the director says, “Wherever we went, there would be a huge crowd. It was difficult to control them. But strangely enough, in one particular village, nobody came to see the shoot! We were relieved, but we were also curious as to why that was the case.
We found out that most of the youngsters in that village had left for work in big towns and abroad. Only those from the older generation lived there. And those old folks were not interested in the shoot. That’s why noone came and we could carry on working quietly.”
The film is almost over except for a song shoot that will take place in Chennai soon. The music is by Raghuanandan, who is trying his hand at a fully commercial format this time.
