In 2002, Dhanush made his acting debut with the coming-of-age drama Thulluvadho Ilamai, which captured the pulse of young romance at the time. Two decades later, now in the director’s seat, Dhanush aims to portray the charm, chaos, and other nuances of contemporary relationships, with Nilavuku En Mel Ennadi Kobam (NEEK). With an ensemble cast of young actors, most of which are making their acting debut, NEEK is all set to hit the theatres this Friday.
While Anikha Surendran is not new to the camera, with NEEK, the actor is stepping up to do a lead role for the first time. Her co-stars Ramya Ranganathan and Rabiya Khatoon share the rush of emotions they felt upon receiving the call to be cast in the Dhanush directorial. Ramya confesses that she was not looking for an acting opportunity when she got the call. “I was a corporate professional and a dancer.
When I got the call I thought it was a prank. This was completely unexpected but I was happy,” says Ramya. However, the happiness came with anxiety, which the actor reveals was quelled by the confidence instilled in her by Dhanush. On why the director chose her, Ramya recounts what Dhanush told her,
“He said I had expressive eyes and that he had a gut feeling that I would suit the character well.” Rabiya says, “I had done advertisements and I believe that is how they came to know about me. Dhanush sir said that they auditioned a lot of people for my role and that I was the only one that looked the most like my character.”
Since the film seems to rely on the dynamics between multiple characters, the team went through several bonding exercises and even rehearsed crucial scenes together. Rabiya adds, “Dhanush sir wanted us to be clear-minded, he didn’t want us to prepare. All he wanted was for us to focus and follow his instructions.”
Even as someone with a relatively higher level of on-screen experience, Anikha was given the same direction. On whether she felt the pressure to shed the image of a child actor with Tamil audiences, Anikha says, “Ever since I was a child artist, I was given a lot of love and hopefully they continue to give me that love as a lead actor as well.
But I’m not in a rush to change how the audience sees me. It might take some time for them to accept me as a lead actor but I am happy with what I have.” While the women in the team observed Dhanush as a director for the first time, Pavish and Venkatesh Menon had experience working as assistant directors in the recent Dhanush-starrers. Pavish says, “When I worked as an assistant director, I had no knowledge about the inner workings of filmmaking.
Dhanush sir opened up doors to the art of filmmaking and I learned a lot by observing him.” On his biggest lesson from being on the set of NEEK, Pavish says, “I am in constant awe of Dhanush sir’s patience. He also works round the clock. I don’t know where he gets the energy from.” Venkatesh Menon shares his learning, “Dhanush sir is a fast director, he is extremely aware of the fact that in cinema, time is money. So, whenever the set gets a bit lethargic, he brings the energy.”
Delving into the themes of the film, Pavish speaks about how the current generation approaches romance and relationships. The actor says, “Based on my observation of friends and people of my age, I think Gen Z is confused about what to expect in a relationship. They want to enter a relationship but they are scared of commitment.
In order to mask that, they come up with different labels for their relationship like situationship. My friends would say they are dating someone but they would be very careful about labels like girlfriend and boyfriend.” Venkatesh confesses that he is clueless about the current generation as well. “I am a bit old-school when it comes to romance. I don’t understand contemporary relationships myself.
But, I do believe that love is a form of understanding,” he puts it eloquently. While the Gen Z actors are themselves struggling to understand their contemporaries, one wonders how the writer-director captured the minds of his characters. The cast reveals that Dhanush went into extensive research, starting with them.
“During rehearsals, Dhanush sir would ask us doubts about whether a line of dialogue or a lingo sounded realistic. He would ask, ‘Is this how you would text a friend? Does this sound like something your friends say?’ He was friendly enough to ask for such inputs from us,” Pavish concludes, giving us an insight into the work that went into NEEK, and Dhanush’s zest for learning and evolution, even after decades in the film industry.