Star Interviews
Exclusive: Interview with Director Sasikumar
By Sri
Jun 1, 2009 - 9:41:24 AM

Sasikumar

When I saw the film Subramaniapuram (the Tamil original of Ananthapuram 1980), I was surprised seeing utmost care taken for the period sets, lighting, and costumes, all portraying the '80s quite authentically. I did feel that it had too much of violence, though. I then called Sasikumar, the story-writer, producer, and director of the film to talk about the film, and he readily agreed to do it. Our telephonic conversation is presented thus on TeluguCinema.Com as an interview:

Sri: Hi, Sasi! I saw your debut film, and it's wonderful! But, I felt it had a lot of violence...
Sasikumar: Thanks for your appreciation for the film! I have only shown what had happened in the 1980s and there's no exaggeration in it. The story is based on some real events and we incorporated some more scenes around the real incidents in Madurai (where the Tamil film is set).

Sri: How did you bring in the nativity of the time?
Sasikumar: Post-production work for the film took eight months, because it's hard to get the real feel of those times. It's not just a feeling that we brought in - I had to find bicycles of that time, Lambretta scooters, typewriters, televisions, and all other furniture, appliances, vehicles, ...everything from the past. It was not at all easy! We adopted a village near Madurai and redesigned the whole street to bring the atmosphere of thirty years ago.

Sri: What about costumes?
Sasikumar: That's another big thing! We went to really rural areas of today, found the shops where we can get such dresses, and so on. It was strenuous. We brought a whole set of designers and had them handy at the shooting scene. For scenes involving groups of artistes, we had the designers ready so as to take measurements of individuals and get the clothes stitched immediately!...

Sri: What type of camera did you use for the vintage look? Was it just done in DI?
Sasikumar: We used Super-16mm film to get that look. Ours is the first film to use Super-16mm in Tamil. Even in the art department, we took care to use old colors to get that raw look. Of course, we did use DI too.

Sri: I was surprised to see wall posters of Rajinikant's films of those times!
Sasikumar: It was one of the toughest jobs on our hands then! The problem with wall posters was that we cannot even reproduce similar wall posters as the fonts are now changed completely and no printing press existing today uses such fonts. We had to go to distribution offices to get the old wall posters and bought them out from there. In other words, the wall posters we used were actually those printed in those times and stowed away all these years.

Sri: How did you choose ' Colors' Swathi for the heroine?
Sasikumar: We searched almost hundred photos scouting for our heroine. Particularly keeping in mind the song konTe chooputO..., nee konTe chooputO..., we were looking for someone with beautiful, expressive eyes. That was when I saw the film Aadavaari Maatalaki Arthaale Verule, where she was not the heroine but I could see that she'd be the right choice for my film. So, with much difficulty we got her contact and my manager contacted her. She refused the offer outright, saying she didn't know anything about Tamil films or language or culture. I was insistent and so was she! Finally, she agreed to come down to Chennai just to say no to the project. When she came and saw the huge poster on the office wall with just her eyes, she liked it immediately and agreed to do the film and signed the agreement! Then, she listened the song and was really thrilled. The manager then introduced me as the film's director, and it came as a shock to her as she expected the director, as generality has it, would be over 40 years old. She readily gave her dates even at times when there was only short notice for our shoot, and things went on smoothly from there.

Sri: How did you select the hero Jai?
Sasikumar: Jai already did another film in the past. I saw him in Chennai 600028 and felt that he'd suit the role. [Jai actually debuted in the film Bhagavathi, but got recognition with Chennai 600028.] I asked him to put on 10 kg for the role. He agreed, and got ready in a month. He really suited the role and acted well too.

Sri: Indeed! But, compared to him, you look wooden in some scenes...!
Sasikumar: Oh, yeah, and that's because of my character in the film is not emotional or expressive. The characterization demands that I'd be reserved and calm-going. The reasons for such an attitude are shown after Jai's death. I did what I am supposed to do to fit in the role, I could say.

Sri: Where did you find the music director James Vasanthan?
Sasikumar: He happens to be my music teacher at my school in Kodaikanal. He did such an excellent job that I am totally impressed with his work.

ri: How much did you spend for the film on the whole? I hear people say it's a low-budget film, since most of the cast and crew are new.
Sasikumar: Most cast is chosen from the villages around where we shot. Most of them didn't have any acting experience whatsoever. Still, it's not really a low budget film as some people might term a film of newcomers. We, in fact, spent around 3.5-3.75 crore rupees for the film. The period set up took a lot of cost in itself. ...Of course, the movie is a hit and we did get more money than we spent on it.

Sri: You're a debutant yourself. How could you pull it off?
Sasikumar: (Laughs) With the help of friends and family. We are into theaters and other businesses in and around Madurai. I thus had a financial backing based on our businesses, and I took some more in loans.

Sri: I think the Telugu version can be advertised much better.
Sasikumar: We are new to the field, and I agree to what you say. The film has a good talk in Telugu too, which is good.

Sri: What are your future plans?
Sasikumar: At this time, I completed another film titled Pasanga as a producer. The film, which has children cast as its lead artistes, got good reviews and is also a good hit now. I am doing another film now. Once I complete that film, my next film would start in August, with all newcomers again, as a bilingual film made simultaneously in Tamil and Telugu too.

Sri: So, are you looking for new faces at this time?
Sasikumar: As a matter of fact, I am. Interested people can contact my office with their profiles for more information.

  Edited by: NaChaKi
Interview: by  Sri Atluri