Director Vijay is in a happy space. On the personal front, he has just tied the knot with actress Amala Paul, whom he was in love with. And today, Saivam , his dream project – not in terms of size but in terms of script – is all set to hit screens.
Interestingly, the filmmaker had wanted to work on this film much earlier. “I always had this story in mind. I was supposed to do this even before Vijay’s Thalaivaa . But then, we had Vijay’s dates and went ahead with that project. And even before Thalaivaa released, I started working on Saivam ,” he says.
Every director incorporates a bit of his growing-up days in his scripts, and with this film, Vijay has done exactly that. “It is very close to my life and I’ve introduced elements and sequences in it that have actually happened in front of me,” he reveals, “That way, yes, it feels very personal. But at the same time, it’s a proper commercial family entertainer…that will either make you laugh or cry!” One look at his filmography and you realise that Vijay has worked with top actors, including Vikram, Vijay and Ajith. However, Saivam is different…it’s a film sans stars. “That’s perhaps because the story is the hero,” he laughs, “As a director, I do not wish to stick to certain genres. I’d love to experiment. That’s how this script was born.”
This story also gave him a chance to explore his roots. “Every film is like living life one day at a time. While with Madrasapattinam , I learnt about the evolution of our city, with Saivam , I got a chance to explore the rural side. In fact, I learnt a lot about agriculture and life in the villages that I didn’t know before. I’ve tried to incorporate those elements in some of the sequences too.”
This small, feel-good film came about thanks to the efforts of four people, he says. “They’re Nasser sir, Nirav Shah, GV Prakash and Sara. No questions were asked when I started work on it. They just came forward to help me bring out my vision of what the film should be like,” he states.
He describes Sara, the child artiste with whom he worked earlier in Deiva Thirumagal , as a ‘crowd puller’. “The professional maturity she displays every day during shoot shows her potential,” he says, “Thanks to her and the bond she shares with other artists in the film, the target audience is not just children but anybody who craves family connections.”
