The title of Arjun Reddy-fame Vijay Deverakonda’s Tamil debut was revealed on Thusday. Titled NOTA, the film had its press meet organised on the same day. Apart from the film’s cast and crew, including producer Gnanavel Raja, director Anand Shankar, music director Sam CS and actors Sathyaraj and Mehreen Pirzada, many other film personalities such as directors Pa Ranjith, Rajesh and Deekay attended the event.
At the event, Gnanavel said, “I loved Anand Shankar’s previous films and was mightly impressed with how he treated the script.” On his part, director Anand Shankar praised Gnanavel as one of the few producers in Tamil cinema who care more about the story than who plays the lead. “I’ve known him from the time I made my first film and he’s always in sync with the way I work. I watched Pelli Choopulu and loved Vijay’s performance and with Arjun Reddy, he proved what he could do. He has the badass persona which I wanted for NOTA. It’s a political drama with realistic content.” Talking about Sathyaraj, Anand said, “Before narrating the story to him, I told him that I’ve already fixed him in my mind for the role which will be similar to the one played by Amitabh Bachchan in Sarkar.”
Speaking on the importance of NOTA in a country like India, Pa Ranjith said, “If a cell phone can be hacked, the electronic voting system, too, can be compromised. The value for NOTA is high and I’ve used it twice personally.” He also added that right from Attakathi, Tamil audience has welcomed different scripts and NOTA will also be welcomed with open hands.
The film’s composer Sam CS revealed his different approach to making music for his films. “I believe that reading a script and working on the music beforehand works in the film’s favour. I’ve already started on the music for NOTA, which has ample scope for a composer.”
Veteran actor Sathyaraj joked that he had nothing to do with the film’s title. He added, “Before it used to be 75 per cent story and 25 per cent technical prowess, but now, it’s the other way around. I enjoyed how Anand presented his previous films. My role will be similar to veteran journalist Gnani.”
The film’s lead Vijay Deverakonda, started his speech with a Thirukkural. Talking about how he’s received Tamil film offers before, he said, “I chose not to do any of them and even when Gnanavel told me to listen to the script of NOTA, I had no plan of doing a Tamil film. I was also exhausted from continuous shoots and asked Anand Shankar to narrate the story once again after a week. But the script was so interesting that I agreed immediately. I can guarantee that you will see me talking in Tamil in this film.”
The film’s shooting has commenced in Chennai and the first schedule will be completed in three weeks.