It’s not often you hear a director making changes to his film after the release, going by suggestions from critics and audiences. Well, Suseenthiran is not someone who goes by conventional practices. His film Maaveeran Kittu starring Vishnu Vishal, Sri Divya, Parthiepan and others, has been trimmed to make it more racy.
He tells City Express, “Not many changes have been made but I wanted to do all that I could to ensure a box-office hit. I have been reading reviews on social media, and many felt the pace of the movie was a bit slow. Naturally, we had to shorten the length. It’s very rare for a director to take that decision. Before trimming this, there was a clear shift in the public opinion. After the screenplay has been considerably tightened, the response is great.”
It’s interesting to note that the filmmaker has never trimmed any of his movies, especially based on public opinion. “There was this song in the second half, which was away from the story. In fact, we replaced that song with another number that was shot in Kodaikanal. There were great expectations for this, as everybody in our crew liked it. Imman, the music composer told me he felt that the placement of the song was inappropriate. So we have chopped that song, and changed the order of scenes, so that it synced better. Even in my earlier film Pandiya Naadu, the famous Fy Fy Fy Kalaachify wasn’t there. At the last minute, we forced the song into the film. Fortunately, it became a hit. I thought of implementing the same in Maaveeran Kittu, which ended up unfavourable.”
A source from the film unit adds, “Not all directors can be accommodating. Filmmakers always think that trimming or chopping is a hindrance to their creativity. It has both advantages and disadvantages. These days, everything appears on social media. So, when a film is cut, they tweet about it. Sometimes, it creates a negative impression about the film. It was a collective decision taken by the film crew, and we are happy about the final output now.”
Produced by Nallusamy Pictures and Asian Cine Combines, Maaveeran Kittu has been getting positive reviews! In the past, directors like KV Anand and Selvaraghavan were against the idea of trimming their films after release.
They won accolades for their uncompromising stand.