Nothing but the tooth

Director Anjana Ali Khan of Veppam is back with a romcom, ‘Pal’aandu Vaazhga

November 19, 2014 06:30 pm | Updated 06:30 pm IST - COIMBATORE:

Anjana Ali Khan on the sets of 'Pal'aandu Vaazhga

Anjana Ali Khan on the sets of 'Pal'aandu Vaazhga

She made her debut with Veppam , produced by her mentor Gautham Vasudev Menon. Even with that first film, Anjana Ali Khan showed that she was no pushover. She did not stick to what is considered a safe subject for a woman director, and chose a film that was a cocktail of romance, action and deadly thrills.

Now, three years after that film, she’s back directing a romcom, about a dentist falling in love. The film, made by Emersiigns Productions, is titled ‘Pal’aandu Vaazhga , and stars Rahul Ravindran and Wasna Ahmed in the lead. Rahul is a familiar face in Tamil, having made his debut with Moscowin Kaveri . Wasna, who used to work in Hindi serials, entered the Tamil film industry with Kadhal Solla Aasai . Anjana has also put in place a strong support cast — there’s Poornima Bhagyaraj, Devadarshini, Prem Kumar and Vinodhini.

Anjana has been chiselling the story into shape from her home in Qatar, where her husband and children live. “I’m very happy I got a great cast. We have a lovely time shooting; there’s a nice chemistry on the sets,” she says.

The film is to be primarily shot in Chennai, and she has a strong technical team too. Cinematography is by Jim Ganesh of Jilla fame and music is by Satish Chakravarthy, whose scores for Leelai and Kanimozhi came in for acclaim. Music is a vital part of Anjana’s films — Veppam had some eminently hummable numbers — and this one is no different, says the director. “Music has a huge role in this film too, as it is based on romance,” she says.

Even though her script was locked, on the sets, Anjana sat down with her actors and worked out the character graph. The result, she says “is superb”. “They bring in so much to each shot.”

Anjana signed Rahul after watching the Telugu Andala Rakshasi . “He is extremely expressive and charming on screen. The role needed someone like that. Also, since he’s basically a Tamil boy, language would not pose a problem.”

Did the three-year gap between films bother her? “Not really. I’ve not been idle. I’ve been doing ad films, I’ve been writing…”

'Pal'aandu Vaazhga is slated to be a quickie, says Anjana. “Depending on the availability of dates, I’d like to finish it fast,” she says.

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