Arya's happy. And, why not? Both his recent flicks “Madarasapattinam” and “Boss (A) Baskaran” have evoked a good response. He says that if a film's good, it, naturally, works well at the box-office. As for his co-star Nayanthara in “Boss…”, he says: “We both follow the director's instructions, and I'm glad our on-screen chemistry has worked.” The actor is also excited about his film company The Show People that's making impressive progress. “I'm not acting in the company's projects as of now, but I may consider a film later.”
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Wielding the megaphone
Vinuchakravarthi entered filmdom to direct films. In fact, he was an assistant to Kannada film director Puttanna Kanagal. However, he was meant to be an actor. He starred in “Rosappu Ravikkaikari”, which became a hit. Since, he has acted in nearly 1,000 films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The 64-year-old actor is all set to direct a film, 40 years after he entered the industry.
“I wrote the story, screenplay, dialogue, and co-directed ‘Vandichakkaram', ‘Imaigal' (Sivaji Ganesan) and ‘Ponnukketha Purusan', and moved to acting. When I recently met Ilaiyaraaja he asked me to narrate a story, and when I did, he asked me to make it a film. And, that's how Chakra Creations' ‘Velikkathan' was born. Ilaiyaraaja has composed six beautiful numbers. I've written the story, screenplay and dialogue, in addition to directing and producing the film. The cast will be finalised shortly,” he says.
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Rewind mode
Director M. Venkatesan has nearly 60 ad films to his credit. Armed with D.F.Tech from the L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, he did an Internet documentary film “Dhesai”, and “Kadhal Mannan”, a film on yesteryear actor Gemini Ganesan. His latest is “Kshama” , a film that captures the early life of Mahatma Gandhi. The 12-minute film, completed in three-and-a-half days, was screened at the India International Film Festival. It was also the official Indian entry at the Gandhi Panorama Film Festival, and won the jury prize. The film was also screened at many international film festivals and won appreciation. “I was particularly happy when ‘Kshama' was screened in South Africa where Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of a train. The people in that country love to see the life of Mahatma Gandhi even now. Their applause after watching the film is memorable,” says Venkatesan.
