Quite a few reasons can be cited for the hype and hoopla surrounding Paiyya, releasing today — the lead pair for one. Karthi, who was stuck with the grimy, soiled-lungi look in both ParuththiVeeran and Aayirathil Oruvan , seems to have gone in for an appealing makeover in Paiyya . A move that should showcase him as a suave, stylish trendsetter! “Very true,” agrees Lingusamy, director of Paiyya . “He's good looking and has studied abroad, and in Paiyya you'll see him as he is in real life.” (Incidentally, probably to cash in on the success of the dubbed versions of his earlier films, Paiyya comes out as Avara in Telugu.)
As for heroine Tamannah, she wasn't the director's first choice. Nayantara, who had been booked for the part, and Lingusamy, fell out even before the camera began to roll and he had to find a replacement really fast. “I could have taken a new face on board, but Paiyya 's heroine is not a mere glam doll, she's there throughout the movie and has to be a commendable performer. I liked Tamannah in Happy Days and Kalloori and decided she would suit the Paiyya role. She has! She looks radiant and her diligence is remarkable,” says Lingusamy. On Nayantara's exit from the project: “It was more of a communication gap that soured matters. Nayantara was very good in Yaaradi Nee Mohini and so I decided to cast her in Paiyya . Things may not have worked out, but I'm still her fan,” he laughs.
A road movie
From what you hear, Paiyya is a road movie. “The entire film is a travel piece of sorts. How would a young man who had flipped for a beautiful girl he had seen the previous day, feel when she actually walks up to him and hitch-hikes a ride to Mumbai? That's the line of Paiyya ,” Lingusamy goes on enthusiastically. “As far as I know, it's a first-of-its-kind film in Tamil.”
Each of Lingusamy's five films have been different — so no reason why Paiyya , his sixth, shouldn't be. The R.B. Choudhary production Anandam , his debut, with Mammootty, Devyani, Murali, Abbas, Sneha and several others, was a heart-warming projection of a large, happy, close-knit family. “I didn't need a villain to take the film forward, and that made it different. To a very small extent, films such as Hum Aapke Hain Kaun triggered the thought process,” smiles Lingusamy.
Run , his next, with Madhavan and Meera Jasmine, was again a runaway hit. “It began with a real-life experience. I met this girl when she boarded the bus I was travelling in, at the Valluvar Kottam stop. The impact she made on me was incredible and when she passed on some small change and asked me to secure a ticket for her from the conductor I was fascinated. [The film too has a similar sequence.] That one instance led me to the story of Run ,” recalls Lingusamy.
With both his ventures turning up trumps at the box office, Lingusamy was in tension zone to continue the success spell. Ji , his third, had Ajith and Trisha pairing up for the first time. “Half way through a film, a maker's gut feeling about whether things are going as they should, generally proves right. I work with utmost sincerity for every film, but I realised that Ji was heading the wrong way. I had to quickly pull my socks up and jump up really high to mount the winning horse. And I managed it with Sandakkozhi ,” he smiles. The Vikram-Trisha starrer, Bheema followed. “If the film had been completed on schedule, I'm sure it would have been a huge hit. The time of release played truant and in between at least 18 films, big and small, based on the same premise had come out,” says Lingusamy. Now that he has to court success yet again, he has slogged in every way possible for Paiyya . But hasn't the release of Paiyya also been delayed? “A slight postponement in the date of release means nothing. The problem with Bheema was the delay in shooting itself,” he clarifies.
“Yuvan's songs are a highpoint of Paiyya . So are Na. Muthukumar's lyrics. I think this is going to be a crew that will continue to work with me for long,” smiles the contented filmmaker, as he also touches upon the contributions, cinematographer Madhi, dialogue writer Brinda Sarathy and editor Antony have made for Paiyya . “As a team we've all worked hard and the result will now be out for you to see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed,” says Linguasamy. The words ring with confidence …
