“AJITH DROVE ME IN HIS CAR TO OOTY IN JUST 8 HOURS!”

Director Saran, who started his career with the film Kadhal Mannan starring Ajith Kumar went on to direct Thala Ajith in 3 others films namely, Amarkalam, Attagasam and Asal. The director holds the record for the most number of films with Ajith. In an exclusive conversation with Behindwoods, Saran shared his memorable experiences that are not known to many. Saran said:

“When I approached Ajith for my debut film Kadhal Mannan, he gave me a heads up within 2 minutes. He said he knew I was good at the craft of filmmaking as I was a former assistant of K.Balachander. While shooting for Kadhal Mannan, Ajith had a chocolate boy image. We had a huge problem in the cine industry after the first schedule of Kadhal Mannan. There was no shooting happening anywhere for 7 months because of a strike and I was devastated as it was my precious, first project. Ajith sir called me and gave me reassurance that we may go ahead and edit and dub the canned portions. This gave us hope to move forward and we went on to complete it successfully.

After this film, I wanted to make an action based project with Ajith sir when I started writing Amarkalam. Everything was going good but I had a confusion when I approached the climax. I told Ajith sir about it. He suddenly asked me to pack my bags and come down. When I went outside my house he was waiting in his car and he asked me to get in. He said we were going on a trip to Ooty and that we will decide about the climax there. So we headed to Ooty and once we reached there we stayed there for 4 days when I gained clarity.

On the way to Ooty, Ajith sir wanted to listen to one song that had been composed for our Amarkalam and he listened to it throughout the journey of 8 hours! Yes, it used to take 14 hours to Ooty when a normal driver drives the car but it was Ajith who was on the wheel and what would you expect? After Ooty, we had decided on the climax and our action entertainer was ready. Amarkalam became a huge success and I was extremely happy.

Next was my Attagasam which I had titled because the project was something based on atrocity. Ajith sir was a very busy artist then and we could get only 2 or 2.5 days of shoot at a stretch. Nevertheless, he gave his cooperation and we completed it with the help of our unit which always was ready to be flexible for sir’s dates.

My 4th and last film with Ajith sir was Asal. I really hope to work with him very soon. If at all I get a call from him someday, it means a project is on and that we are rolling. Hoping for the best for my next and it was a pleasurable experience recollecting these memories.”