I am selfish when it comes to making films, says director Pa Ranjith

Vikram as an actor

Chiyaan Vikram in ‘Thangalaan’. (Thangalaan/ X)

Admitting that he was spellbound by Vikram’s commitment to the role in Thangalaan, Pa Ranjith said he would usually give suggestions to artistes on the characters they play, but for the first time, in Thangalaan, Vikram came up with different options for his character for him to choose from.

“We do character sketches in my films. I only showed Vikram his character sketch. He actually turned into the character and came to the spot. He gave me different options to choose from,” the Tamil filmmaker recalled.

“I think he (Vikram) is an artiste who does justice to the character. He has a commitment as an artiste to the character he plays,” Pa Ranjith opined.

He also disclosed that he often wondered what pushes or motivates Vikram to give so much to every role he plays.

Also Read:  ‘Chithha’ director SU Arun Kumar to direct ‘Chiyaan 62’

On working with Chiyaan

“I am very selfish when I make films. But I’d like to show myself as a very cool person,” Pa Ranjith said, evoking laughter from among the audience.

He explained why he made the statement. “Vikram suffered an accident while shooting for Thangalaan. He fractured his ribs and had to take a rest for a month. When he returned to shoot, he had to do a stunt sequence for me.”

Speaking of his dynamic with Vikram, Pa Ranjith said, “I have this tendency to go for one more shot to see if the shot can be done any better. There was a day when we shot through and through until the next morning. I knew Vikram couldn’t do certain shots because of the injury. But I would ask, ‘Can you do this shot for us sir?’, and Vikram would immediately say, ‘I’ll do it’.”

Conceding that he knew for certain that Vikram would have been wounded as a result of doing that shot, the filmmaker said, “I would ask him if it was paining, and he would say, ‘yes’. My response would be, ‘Can we do one more shot?’ and he would still say ‘yes’!”

Pa Ranjith explained why he did what he did: “My biggest concern was that Vikram placed immense trust in me, and I had to live up to that trust. I had to make his character turn real. There were several challenges to making it real, and that is what we call filmmaking.”

The son of Gold rises🔥⚔️

Unveiling the spine-chilling #ThangalaanTeaser✨
▶️https://t.co/Comqkxth5M#Thangalaan #ThangalaanFromJan26@Thangalaan @chiyaan @beemji @kegvraja @StudioGreen2 @officialneelam @parvatweets @MalavikaM_ @PasupathyMasi @DanCaltagirone @thehari___…

— Vikram (@chiyaan) November 1, 2023

Also Read: Yash-starrer ‘Raja Huli’ turns 10

‘Vikram had immense trust in me’

A Pa Ranjith directorial ‘Thangalaan’. (Thangalaan/ X)

The director also disclosed what happened on the night of the day Vikram was wounded.

Recalling the events of the day, Pa Ranjith said, “There was a night shoot on the day Vikram sir got injured. There were some stunt sequences planned for that night. After every shot, I wouldn’t dare to look at Vikram sir. Instead, I would keep looking only at the monitor.”

He added, “I would look down after the shot and silently tell my assistants to check if he was okay. They would come back and tell me that he said he was okay and then, I would call for the next shot. That night, I wondered what made this man give so much to make a character appear real.”

Pa Ranjith said this question made him understand the amount of faith that the artiste must have had in the character for him to give so much to it. “It was his faith in the character that gave me a lot of hope. I think that hope is what has now taken shape as Thangalaan.”

Also Read: Keraleeyam: Kamal Haasan lauds Kerala model of development

‘Thangalaan motivated me’

‘Thangalaan’ releasing worldwide on 26 January 2024. (Thangalaan/ X)

He noted that Vikram’s commitment to Thangalaaan actually induced an element of fear in him and also motivated him to work even better.

Further, the director said his entire team of actors worked exceptionally hard for the film.

When asked about the audience’s reaction, Pa Ranjith replied, “Just because we have worked hard, the audience does not have to like it. The audience does not care how hard we work. For them, what matters is — does the film work for them or not?”

He elaborated further: “If it does not work, they will not speak about it. If it works, they will celebrate the film and speak of even the small details in it out of love for it. This will certainly be a film of the latter kind.”

Thangalaan, a period drama, has music by GV Prakash and cinematography by Kishore Kumar.

It is set to hit screens on 26 January 2024.

Also Read: Four big movies to enthral audience for Deepavali