There is stardust in the air, finally. After a rather dull few months for Tamil audiences in theatres, the coming-of-age film Star, headlined by Kavin, has raised hopes for a possible revival in the scene. Long in the making, Star is Pyaar Prema Kaadhal-director Elan’s attempt charts the unforgiving journey of a young man who dreams of becoming an actor. Elan seems confident that Star will usher a comeback of sorts for Tamil cinema, but adds that he never envisioned the film would release at such a phase. “Any good film that’s releasing now would aid in that revival, but Star is not the kind of film we could work on after setting a deadline; it features Kavin in multiple looks and we had to wait for him to put on or lose weight.”
There is hype on social media for Star, bolstered by the songs composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and the popularity that Kavin has been enjoying especially after last year’s Dada. But what seems to have worked for the film’s promotion is its well-cut trailer. The three-minute video feels like a bite-sized film on its own. “I’ve always been a fan of the Hollywood-esque trailer that’s linearly cut and reveals more than what producers or editors are usually comfortable with. That’s what we’ve done here. For a genre like this, moments matter more than the surprises and it’s important to convey the emotional essence of the film,” says Elan.
Elan has had a long journey for Star, his sophomore effort, to see the light of the day. The film was first announced in 2020 under a different production banner with Harish Kalyan in the lead; the project was shelved in 2021 and was revived with Kavin last year. It was the actor’s stellar turn in last year’s Dadathat seems to have impressed Elan a lot. “I can’t point to a particular moment in Dada, but the feel of his performance throughout the movie impressed me.”
Elan agrees there aren’t many young actors currently like Kavin or Harish Kalyan who could pull off such a role in a coming-of-age drama, “In Tamil cinema, there aren’t many heroes in general. Comparatively, if you see Telugu cinema, there are some 50-odd heroes.”
Usually, directors of movies that have been in the making for a long time tend to lose their affinity towards the script or their objectivity in their own judgements. With Star, the delay only helped the project, says Elan. “I used the time to work on the script and see it evolve further. Sometimes, minute nuances can end up becoming the stand-out feature of the film; in Star, an idea I got at the very last minute made the whole film fulfilling to me.”
Star began as a story inspired by a short film script called Meesai that Elan wrote for a friend. “He didn’t make that project and that script is now the first scene in Star. Secondly, when it comes to writing a story, I write only when something impacts me and the incessant trolling that stars have been facing on social media has been hurting me. So I thought, ‘What if I show the journey of a person with dreams of becoming an actor?’ Then the hardship in that story should make people empathise with the struggles of the artists,” he says.
Director Elan | Photo Credit: S Shiva Raj
In Star, we see the life of an aspiring actor from his childhood to middle-age. But writing such a script comes with its own restrictions, as all that goes behind the life of an individual cannot be translated into a two-hour feature film. The progression of the events in the story also cannot disrupt the flow of the narrative; Elan says that this is where a writer’s skills get truly tested.
“Say you have to show the bond between two family members; do you need five scenes to establish that or is one scene enough? For instance, I was blown away by the telephonic conversation between the male lead and his girlfriend in I Saw The Devil (2010); immediately after the call, she gets kidnapped and the film follows the hero’s quest for revenge, but that one phone call was enough to show the love they shared for each other. So, yes, all of that should be brought in, but without losing the essence of the film as well.”
Over the years, the perspective towards motivational films that end on a positive note has changed; the common man has started to question the idea of destiny and the notion that all those who chase after their dreams will see light at the end of the tunnel. Star too seems to touch upon the cost that a man who runs after his dreams must incur. “If Ajith Kumar’s Mugavaree released today, the negative ending they had originally shot would be celebrated more. With Star, the destination of this character comes secondary, and it is more about the journey that he undertakes to go there. I believe that we should all give the process more importance than the destination... because not everyone would reach the end goal.”
Elan is probably one of a handful who have no qualms in saying that success is just an illusion. “Earlier, we were too steadfast on achieving success, but people are more aware these days.”
Kavin in a still from ‘Star’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
In the early days, there was a widespread notion that a “film made on films” wouldn’t work and that the audiences do not care about what goes behind the walls of a movie studio. However, the reception for films like the Malayalam outingVarshangalkku Shesham says otherwise. “Those days are long gone, and I think it’s because of social media. Everyone who posts a Reel on Instagram imagines themselves to be a star while doing so. A connection is made there, and further, we are now able to even talk to stars.” The fact that audiences nowadays are also aware of the journey that the current generation of stars has faced contributes to this, adds Elan. “So, they understand the hardship behind the journey. With Star, I didn’t want it to just be a film on cinema; this is more of the life journey of someone with silver screen aspirations.”
What about Elan’s other aspirations? . “Like the case for most filmmakers, the first aspiration I had as a child was to become an actor. Then as I evolved over the years and grew passionate about filmmaking. Even now, acting is a wish but filmmaking continues to be my passion.”
Star releases in theatres this Friday
