The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : ‘Valmiki’ captures all emotions of life, says director of the film

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Tamil Nadu

‘Valmiki’ captures all emotions of life, says director of the film

— Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

G. Ananthanarayanan.

G. Ananthanarayanan’s start in the film industry is so impressive that it would make any person desperate to get into the filmdom jealous. For someone who got better of scores of associates, worked with directors like Shankar, and eventually found a big banner and a strong script to put him under spotlight - things can’t get any better. He talks about his maiden directorial venture ‘Valmiki’, which was released on Friday, to S. Aishwarya.

A good many movies on the lives of petty thieves has hit the screens and many even kept the cash boxes ringing for long. But this movie is all set to stand apart and has quite a many reasons to prove its distinctiveness. The director’s painstaking research is for one. “Pickpockets operate from certain belts in the city, and I visited their places and watched the way they lead their lives. The movie was also shot in those exact locations,” he says.

The movie is shot in Chennai except for two songs and has no simulated sets. Busy streets of Chennai are captured live, with people who were unaware of a camera zooming in and out. “The movie might look like a series of candid shots. Shooting in real locations makes the movie authentic and people would know that I have done a lot of homework before telling them a story.”

Music maestro Ilayaraja’s symphony makes the movie all the more distinctive. “His music gives an urbanised rustic touch to the songs. The compositions are part of the movie and one would never feel the songs to be out of place,” is his promise.

Having worked with directors like Shankar and A.R. Gandhi Krishna, Ananthanarayanan precisely knows what makes a movie click.

“It is important to capture emotions of lives. A movie must have all the essence of life like comedy, tragedy and sentiments.” Valmiki stands as a quintessence of his perception.

New faces occupy more space in the movie, and for many of them camera is definitely not a thing seen every day. From a seven-year-old kid to a 50-year-old woman, many were chosen mainly from slums.

Costumes were treated for a month to give them a worn-out look and make-up procedures were done away with. Novelty became a byword even when scripting dialogues for the cast. The actors were not asked to memorise the dialogues verbatim, and the dialogues sheets were replaced with detailed biographies of the characters. “This helped them understand and assimilate the characters. My actors lived their roles.” Mr. Ananthanarayanan strongly believes that there is no polarisation of audience’s taste when it comes to movies.

“You cannot classify a movie as purely for urban or rural audience. A good movie with a strong storyline will attract the masses, no matter what the backdrop of the movie is.”

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