“My father, our production manager, and I locked ourselves in our office and switched off all the phones,” begins Kreshna, describing the morning his film Kazhugu (2012) was released. “We were under severe financial pressure and we had gone all-out relying on the audience accepting a film based on a very unusual subject. My father had produced two films -- Ali Baba (2008) and Katradhu Kalavu (2010) – to launch my film career and both were dismal failures. Along with the financial strain, I was feeling the guilt of having convinced them to take yet another chance on their son’s failing career,” he says.
It must have been 3 pm, Kreshna remembers, just as the noon show ended, when he gathered enough courage to switch on his phone. A call from Tiruchy said the audiences had loved it there. Another call from Chennai reiterated the news. Other phones in the office were switched back on and then began a barrage of congratulatory phone calls. “I’d pitched Kazhugu to many producers and they had all dismissed it, saying it could at best be a documentary film and how no one would want to watch a movie about a man who retrieves dead bodies from suicide points. Losing all hope, I finally went to my mom and asked her if we could take this last chance despite our woes. She agreed and it gave me a lease of life and my first taste of success,” Kreshna says.
From walking into a 250-seater theatre occupied by just six people for Ali Baba, Kreshna now saw Kazhugu selling out several shows at even bigger cinema halls. He says, “I believed the inherent love story in the film would work. The problem with our industry is that there is always a lot of talk about what the audiences like and dislike. Despite this, my first two films had failed, so I left it to my instincts this time. Similarly, I was very nervous about Yaamirukku Bayamey. When we finished shooting, we knew we had a good film but I assumed it would work only with the multiplex audience. Honestly, when the film went on to succeed across centres, I was quite surprised. We generally underestimate the audience and their ability to encourage good cinema.”
Kreshna, who began as a child actor in films like Anjali and Iruvar, is now ready with a steady line-up of films, both solo and multi-starrers. “I’ve consciously decided to act in at least one or two multi-starrers a year. I’m not really worried about my screen space or the length of my role, as long as it results in a good movie. The second I hear a big director announcing his next, I am at his doorstep asking for an audition. There’s no place for an ego if one wants to be a part of good cinema.”
With his next film Vanavarayan Vallavarayan scheduled for release after several delays, he says he has a gut feeling about how the film’s bond between brothers will work. This brings us to the bond he shares with real-life brother Vishnuvardhan, with whom he’s shooting for a multi-starrer titled Yatchan. “I’m actually very nervous on the sets with Vishnu. People assume I will be very relaxed considering it’s my brother. Working in one of his films was a long-standing dream of mine. It’s like the moment the girl you love comes back and says she loves you too… you stand there shivering and nervous… not knowing how to go on from there...”
