Will pedigree show?

Sibiraj returns with Naaigal Jaakirathai, a story about a man and his dog

August 30, 2014 05:21 pm | Updated 05:21 pm IST

Sibiraj

Sibiraj

Sibiraj doesn’t mind downplaying himself. And that, in an industry where self-promotion is considered key to success. So, when he talks about Naaigal Jaakirathai, he says he is playing second fiddle to a Belgian Shepherd, which he claims is the real hero of the film. Is this a way to reduce the pressure on himself? He laughs, saying he isn’t great at marketing himself. You can see he’s slithering away from the spotlight again.

The actor returns after a break of four years during which he polished his acting skills at the New York Film Academy. “I have learned many techniques. Now I can cry without glycerine.”

His last release Naanayam (2010) with director Shakthi Soundar Rajan didn’t fare too well, but that hasn’t stopped him from working with him again on this film. “The director is a good friend, and created the script on my request,” says Sibi, who wanted a story with a dog as its central character. The story was the easy part; finding a dog to suit the role was tougher. “We travelled through Kerala and Tamil Nadu in search of the perfect dog,” he says. “The dog had to be agile and smart enough to know when to attack. We even rejected the dog used in Akshay Kumar’s Entertainment .” Eventually, they found a dog in Stealth-Paws, a Bengaluru-based centre that supplies dogs to security agencies. It was the friendliest dog they could find, but even that didn’t save Sibi from being bitten 12 times. “It hurt a bit,” admits Sibi. The dog stayed with the team for about 45 days of the total 55-day schedule. “We had a separate air-conditioned caravan for the fellow. Not a single shot had to be retaken because of him.”

He also reveals that the dog has an intro song. “The whole song will pun on the word naai ,” he says. “Words like erinaai and ponaai are used in the lyrics written by Madhan Karky.” The first half of the film is light-hearted, while the second half has the hero solving a crime with the dog’s help. Father Sathyaraj is the producer, but says Sibi, “It’s fair to say he is the financier and I the producer!” Sibi talks of how hard he has worked on body language and dialogue delivery so that viewers are not reminded of his famous father. “If I still sound like him, you just have to blame it on the genes,” he says, laughing.

The film will be better than Marley and Me (2008) says Sibi, quite a statement to make, considering how revered the Hollywood movie is. “I’m serious,” he says, “The dog has a back story, it’s a new subject; the film will succeed in this era of Tamil films.” So confident is he about the story and the technical aspects that if at all the film fails, he believes it can be attributed only to his performance. But that’s just his modesty speaking again.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.