Masss hero

Suriya says the days he spent shooting with Venkat Prabhu were the most fun he’s had in a while.

May 16, 2015 05:43 pm | Updated 09:20 pm IST

It’s clear that Suriya’s children have changed him. He talks of acting in films he can watch with Dev and Diya. He talks of producing child-friendly films. He even frowns at being unable to show some of his own work to them. His production house, incidentally, is named 2D Entertainment. 2D — get it?

So, it’s not surprising when he says Masss is, in essence, a children’s film he hopes adults will enjoy too. Though there are horror elements, they have been toned down to make it suitable for children. “There are gory horror films out there that are being marketed as family films,” he says, a bit miffed. “But Masss is like a Disney film.” He repeats the word ‘Disney’ several times, especially when referring to films he’s producing.

The director of Masss , Venkat Prabhu, was a childhood friend and a school mate at St. Bede’s. Suriya first heard the story from Venkat even before Maattrraan . A ten-minute sequence that the director narrated had him “tripping. I can’t tell you more about this sequence, as the enjoyment of the film’s opening depends on the surprise element.”

His recent past, cinematically speaking, has been rather bumpy. This has perhaps made him more observant of the trends and changes in Tamil cinema. “I find the audience doesn’t have too much patience for melodrama.” However, he retains his belief that viewers come to the theatre with certain expectations of each actor, and that they feel let down when they are not met. I offer the bait — “What do you suppose they expect from you?” He says, “Concept-based films, I guess.” You see what he means: anterograde amnesia ( Ghajini ), conjoined twins ( Maattrraan ), the rebirth of an ancient hero by the activation of selective DNA ( 7aum Arivu )… But what about films such as Ayan and Singam ? Suriya says they are necessary for survival and draws attention to the irony of Ayan making more money than Vaaranam Aayiram despite his working harder for the latter.

Suriya, who is almost 40 now, has immense respect for directors who have their finger on the pulse of the youth. “Venkat is like a youngster himself. He’s a happy, positive guy who has friends everywhere. When I host a party, all I do is call him. Fifty others will automatically turn up for him. On some days during shooting, Venkat refused to share my lines with me in advance. He’d say, ‘You tend to overthink the performance. You are such a jolly person when you’re not in front of the camera. I want that to reflect in our film.’” After such demanding roles as a hunchback ( Perazhagan ) and a doting old man ( Vaaranam Aayiram ), it must have seemed rather odd for Suriya that all he needed to do for Masss was look and talk like he does in real life. Suriya has also turned producer despite well-wishers like director Hari asking him not to overburden himself. “But I wanted to help create clean films such as 36 Vayadhinile (Jyotika’s comeback film) and Haiku (a children’s film with director Pandiraj).”

I ask him why he doesn’t do films with good directors who aren’t commercial. “I am still behind Bala sir for a movie. The reason I haven’t worked with others — I won’t name them — is because I disagreed with their approach. Doing a film is more than just a good idea. It’s also important for me that I feel comfortable with a director.” Like director Hari, whom he has agreed to do Singam 3 with. “When he approached me for the third instalment, I wasn’t sure. He convinced me with many new concepts.” That word ‘concept’ again.

Suriya also seems more open to newer directors. “I was thoroughly impressed with the level of detail in Vinoth’s Sathuranga Vettai . I’ve agreed to do his second film.” He also reveals, rather excitedly, that he’s doing 24 with Vikram Kumar of Yaavarum Nalam fame.

I couldn’t help but notice how sprightly Suriya was throughout the conversation. Perhaps it had something to do with Venkat’s advice to him on the sets of Masss : “We can do a good film without getting stressed out.”

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