Vasanthabalan - Tamil Cinema Director Interview - Vasanthabalan | Aravaan | Aadhi | Angadi Theru



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Interviewer : Venkatesh | Camera : Maran | Text : Prathap | Coordination : Venkatesh

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VASANTHABALAN INTERVIEW

Vasanthabalan has created a niche for himself in the industry with his films like Veyil and Angadi Theru. He is ready with his next offering Aravaan, a period film set in 18th century. Vasanthabalan talks exhaustively with behindwoods about Aravaan

About Aravaan

Aravaan is a period film set in the 18th century, about the lives of people in the Southern Tamil Nadu. Their lives have never been recorded in cinema, like the lives of salesmen I brought out in Angaadi Theru. It’s taken from Su. Venkatesan’s Sahitya Academy Award winning novel Kaaval Kottam. It’s a huge novel of 1000 pages. I have only taken 10 pages of the book to write script for the movie. I have done only emotional movies so far. This is my first attempt at an action entertainer. This will be a fast paced movie and will keep you in the edge of your seats while you watch it.

Aravaan will keep you at the

edge of your seats

On the title Aravaan and its relationship with the snake

The meaning of Aravaan is snake. Aravaan is Arjun’s son born to a snake goddess. He belongs to the snake world and that’s why he has a snake with him. He sacrificed his life in a war. The name is allegorical. The title character in the movie shares some relationship with Aravaan and that’s how the title came about. Everything about the title is explained in the movie.

I wanted a hero with whom I

would be comfortable working

Was Aadhi your first choice?

I wanted a hero with whom I would be comfortable working. I had seen Aadhi in Mirugam and liked his performance. Then came Eeram, in which he showed a totally different dimension of acting. For this role, I needed a hero who is tall and has sharp eyes and Aadhi fit the bill perfectly.

About Dhanshika

Aadhi is very tall, 6.2. It was tough to hunt for a heroine for him to match up his height. I liked Dhanshika in Peranmai and invited her for photo shoot. We liked the result and the way she looks. She does the role of Vanapechi in the movie.

It was tough to find a heroine to

match Aadhi’s height

About Bharath’s role in the movie

Bharath is a friend and when I asked him for the cameo role, he immediately agreed. Same way, Anjali plays his lead and she’s done a cameo as well.

In the past 7 years, I have only

done 3 movies

You touch upon different genres in each of your movie. Tell us about it.

I do not want to fit into a stereotype. In the past 7 years, I have only done 3 movies. And I travel for about 2 years to do research and stuff. I want to show different themes in my movies and, like a fan, I want to make interesting movies. Tomorrow, I could also make a comedy movie. I don’t want to get stuck.

Your first film Album did not go well. Is that the reason you shifted genres?

Actually, Album and Veyyil are of the same genre. The narration wasn’t successful in Album and that’s why the movie didn’t perform well. Album tells a love story while Veyyil tells the story and life of a failed man, a brother.

Aravaan’s music director

I wanted someone comfortable to work with. Karthik worked with me for two years and he was very sincere. Now that the album is released and he has produced four hit numbers. A song’s success depends on the movie’s release and I hope the songs will become more popular when the movie is released.

Highlights of Aravaan

It’s a period film, a story that you have never seen. It’s an entertainer and will be a different film for the fans. Nothing that you have ever seen will be like this. This will be a treat for people who want to watch something different. It’s set in Madurai.

Aravaan will be a treat for

people

About re-recording

We have used a lot of live music and instruments.

Where did you travel for researching the movie?

There were no archives that I could access. Everything in the movie is recreated from people’s memories. So it took a year for scripting and another for production and took almost three years for completion.

About cinematography

Siddharth is the cinematographer. We have used the Red camera and he has given superb quality with the camera. I think Aravaan will change the way movies are using cameras after its release. It’s also cost effective.