The actor reveals the hardships faced by the unit of his upcoming movie 'Raavana Kottam' during the shooting.
Actor Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, director Vikram Sugumaran, and actor Kayal Anandhi at 'Raavana Kottam' press meet. (Supplied)
Tamil actor Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, whose upcoming film Raavana Kottam (Ravanna’s Territory) garnered huge expectations, turned emotional while recalling the hurdles he and his team had to face while making the movie.
The actor revealed that there was a moment when he contemplated committing suicide due to the stress caused by financial constraints and the problems created by the locals during the shoot.
Raavana Kottam has been shot in a village in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. The story revolves around the politics and business of planting the Seemai Karuvelam (Gum Arabic) plants in the region.
A poster of ‘Raavana Kottam’. (Twitter)
It is directed by Vikram Sugumaran, known for his critically-acclaimed superhit film Madha Yaanai Koottam (Herd of Mad Elephants, 2013).
Kayal Anandhi is the female lead and Justin Prabhakaran is the music director.
Addressing the media recently, Shanthnu said the team faced several problems right from the beginning. He thanked producer Kannan Ravi for trusting him and bankrolling the flick.
“Another producer would have quit the project after the first schedule. But Kannan Ravi sir stood by us. I am indebted to him for life,” he quipped.
He noted that their budget exceeded their fixed limits as the locals submitted inflated bills to the unit from day 1.
A poster of ‘Raavana Kottam’. (Twitter)
After realising this, the actor decided to take the reins into his hands and manage the finances. “So, I started making the payments to the villagers at the end of the schedule. However, this did not go down well with them,” Shanthnu Bhagyaraj said.
The villagers once stalled the shooting after someone had cut off a branch of a tree that they consider sacred. Also, they invariably delayed the arrival of junior artists at the shooting location to get even for the delayed payments.
“Filmmaking is like giving birth to a child. Only the one delivering the child feels the pain. I felt the pain because my producer, who was in Dubai, entrusted me with the responsibility of managing the production.”
“Raavana Kottam taught me what life means. It also taught me about human beings and how situations change when money is involved,” Shanthnu added.
A poster of ‘Raavana Kottam’. (Twitter)
Shanthnu Bhagyaraj revealed that all this wore him down so much that he would occasionally weep in private by taking a five-minute break during the shoot.
“At one point, I even thought of committing suicide but wondered what would happen to the people who were nagging me for money. It was a weak moment and I discourage people from having such thoughts,” the actor said.
Shanthnu he was disclosing the issues so people could understand that it’s difficult to make a film. “We see the glitz and the glamour of a film from the outside. But behind the scenes, so much work goes into it.”
Raavana Kottam is releasing in theatres on 12 May.
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