‘The audience will have many takeaways from Thalaivan Thalaivii’

CHENNAI: Director Pandiraaj is extremely delighted about the output of his 11th directorial Thalaivan Thalaivii and it is visible in his tone as he begins talking to us about the movie. Bankrolled by Sathya Jyothi Films, the trailer has gone on to become a huge hit among the audience where relatability was widely discussed and appreciated. “The story of Thalaivan Thalaivii is inspired from a real-life incident. I happened to observe a couple arguing with each other and penning the script started there. It is not completely about their fight. But they gave me the lead to write this. I had several questions in my mind revolving around the fight and then came my characters Agaasaveeran and Perarasi, played by Nithya Menen. And when I happened to read the comments, most of them felt like it was an on-screen portrayal of their lives,” says the filmmaker with a smile.

Vijay Sethupathi plays a parotta master for the first time in his career and had first-hand training in making parottas. “It was much-needed because Agaasaveeran’s family runs a food joint in the film. While he makes parottas, his dad serves it and his mom looks after the cash counter while his sister is in charge of the kitchen. My lead characters have some uniqueness in their arch. Similarly, there will be something to look for in Vijay Sethupathi as the hotel too is a character and has an emotional connect to the story,” Pandiraaj remarks.

Be it Sivakarthikeyan in Namma Veetu Pillai or Karthi in Kadaikutty Singam or Suriya in Etharkkum Thuninthavan, Pandiraaj would have seamlessly blended stardom into a guy-next-door character. Reminiscing on writing these roles and striking a fine balance, Pandiraaj says, “I take more time to write than to shoot. It includes keeping their fan base in mind and how I could bring them into my style of films and even their names. Talking about naming Vijay Sethupathi as Agaasaveeran, I was reading writer Imaiyam’s short stories and Agaasaveeran is one of his characters. Also, I acquired rights for Yogi Babu’s role from one of his characters. Every character in Thalaivan Thalaivii has a backstory. Saravanan plays Agaasaveeran’s father, Sembaiyya, Chemban Vinod Jose plays a character called Arasaangam and then there is Kaali Venkat in a role that everyone would love. I have written these characters from various perspectives. Everyone will have something as a takeaway from my characters in Thalaivan Thalaivii.”

Pandiraaj, over the years has narrowed the gap that has separated the audience A, B and C centres. He laughs, “Emotions are the same for everyone. A person in Chennai has the same emotion as someone in Madurai or Tirunelveli. They would react to a happy or a tragic event in the same way. And we are here to bring them to theatres and make every penny worth.” Talking about taking a considerable amount of break between each of his films, the filmmaker says that he is aware. “As I said, I take time to write. Some projects fall in place soon while others take time. But I have ensured that I wouldn’t be taking a long break between films,” he concludes.