“Everyone lies,” says Susi Ganeshan, explaining the process of writing inherently-flawed characters for his films Thiruttu Payale and its sequel, which releases this Thursday. “Even if you record your own phone calls and listen to it at the end of day, you’d notice how many times we fib, even if it’s harmless. None of us are pure.”
So he looks around for inspiration to write his characters which become relatable to the audience not because they’re ‘cardboard characters filled with virtue’, but because ‘they’re a lot like us.’ Either way, he says, “It’s boring to write about good people.”
That’s why he stuck to the title for the sequel as well. Thiruttu Payale , which roughly translates to scoundrel, isn’t just a title to refer to the film’s lead character. “Everyone in these films is a ‘Thiruttu Payal’. If you notice the first film closely, you’ll realise that the same background score has been used for all characters.”
It’s a format he has taken forward to the sequel as well. “It’s finding that right shade of grey that’s difficult. The audience should feel that they too would have done the same if put in a similar situation. Their actions may be wrong but not wrong enough that they become unforgivable.”
But Ganeshan admits that making the sequel to a successful film is always stressful. Apart from the pressure of having to repeat the success of the first part, Ganeshan feels that when a director gets ready to make a sequel, “it’s as though he knows what worked in the first film as well. Nobody really knows why a film works and why one doesn’t.”
So what he can do is try to retain the essence of the first film in a new and contemporary setting. “The content needs to be fresh but somewhere it has to also take one back to the first part. It’s a tricky balance.” And while the first part’s shock value was what worked in its favour, he says that in a post social media world, shocking the audience is a tough task. “In the first film, we had a kissing scene and that went on to create a massive impact for the kind of film it was then. But such a scene would mean nothing today. We have to raise the bar; wouldn’t a lip-lock seem outdated now?”
But a sequel wasn’t always in the works. “In fact, given how demonetisation has affected all of us, a sequel to Kanthaswamy would have been more timely,” he adds.
“It’s a film that spoke about black money even before the media had. It was ahead of its time. I agree that the film was much longer than we’d wanted it to be but it is a film I’m still proud of.”
