In a rare public appearance, composer A.R. Rahman talked about working with filmmaker Vasanthabalan in Kaaviyathalaivan , a period film about the rich tradition of theatre in Madurai of 1920s. A.R. Rahman said, “The film has around 20 songs, some of them short bits. There are about 8 songs in each of the plays featured.”
Vasanthabalan said that the compositions will reflect the sound and musical preferences of that era.A.R. Rahman admitted that it was tricky since he didn’t know how the present generation would receive it. The idea for the film, said Vasanthabalan, came from reading Avvai Shanmugam’s ‘Enadu Nadaka Vaazhkai’. ‘I was fascinated by that world,’ he said. Kaaviyathalaivan features Sidharth, Prithiviraj and Vedhika in the lead roles.