a fun time making sure he did. He always believed in me, so it was all good. Even his oiled up hair in the movie was done by him. I didn’t even have to mention the little details like these. Sameer - Your first movie ‘Thenmerku Paruvakaatru’ was by chance, but after that, your choice of films, intentionally or unintentionally, seem like they have a particular pattern. Like how Aamir does it in bollywood. Your choice of films have been unique, and you involve more with the films, kind of? Vijay - I do get involved with the script, but not to the extent of saying I would not do a film if the changes I suggest were’ t adapted. Even with Soodhu Kavum, it wasn’t that Nalan was directing, he gave me the script and I genuinely enjoyed it. Sameer - Nalan, did you have Vijay in mind when you were writing the script? Because from the audience point of view, it seems so.. Nalan - No, I did not write that role for him, exactly. It just happened. Arul, who plays his brother in the movie was also selected for the role because Vijay could visualise only Arul for that character while reading the script. Vijay - We are in no state to correct script writers because their work would itself be perfect. So any suggestions or clarifications can be made on a very friendly level. Nothing more than that. Not required. Nalan - I have a group of 10 selected people from the industry who I believe in and ask for opinions, Vijay is one of them. Even if Vijay is not part of my next movie, I would definitely give him my script and ask him to read it and give me suggestions. I need opinions because some of them will make sense and might actually help me in the process. That form of discussion is always good. Vijay - In this industry it is very hard to know what film is going to run and what isn’t, you can’t confidently say; so the film I do are
just scripts that I like, it is just my personal opinion. The thought is “Would I watch this movie?” For example, there was a guy who worked on Pizza who’s script I listened to although he and I both know I didn’t have the dates for it, I listened to the script just because I like listening to stories. Something like experience, or who a person has worked with, whether a person has done any work before is not important, it’s just interest, learning and knowledge about cinema. Sameer - You both started fairly late in the industry, but over the time you have been a part of Tamil cinema you have broken a lot of rules, be it acting or direction, literally changed a lot of conventions. How do people from the industry appreciate you? Nalan - We have been received even better than we had perceived that we would be. People appreciate us more than we actually deserve, we’ve been told by reporters that whenever they ask about the film they get an amazing response, even from our seniors. It’s overwhelming. Sameer - What was you starting point in the story, what did you want to convey with the film? Nalan - The idea was just to say that evil does not always fail. The end was fixed, that was the first real idea but I didn’t want the film to be preaching anything so beyond that I was writing the story without thinking too much about the political part of it. Sameer - There is a new trend of actors and directors starting production houses and producing their own films. Do either of you also have this though? Vijay - I have started “Vijay Sethupathi Productions”, we have started working on three films right now. People talk about how experimental my films are but the biggest things is that someone with my background, an accountant becoming something in this industry is a big experiment. If not for this I would’ve been nothing but now I have my bread and butter. The fact that my films have Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2013 | 41