Months into the lockdowns, as uncertainty prevailed over the future of cinema in the wake of digital platforms, Venkat Prabhu reached out to friends Pa Ranjith, M Rajesh and Chimbudevan for an anthology, in order to keep the creative juices flowing. Initially, the idea was to make a thriller.
Venkat Prabhu oversaw the synopsis that each filmmaker sent to him. After poring over their scripts, he felt there was a common thread and decided to call it Victim. Creating content for an OTT platform is not entirely new to him, having directed the anthology Kutty Story (2021). “The problem with it [Kutty Story] was that it was released in theatres. It was not meant for a theatrical release. Likewise, Victim was made for a niche audience on the digital platform,” says Prabhu.
In Victim, Prabhu directs the short Confession that stars Amala Paul and Prasanna. The story happens in one night over a call; Prabhu says it was a departure for him as a director. “My assistant [Manivannan, who wrote Manmatha Leelai] wrote Confession too. We shot this film on the 13th floor of an unfinished building during the lockdown. All of us saw this as an opportunity to learn and personally, I have tried to push my limits with it,” he adds. Chimbudevan, on the other hand, says that unlike Rajesh and Venkat Prabhu who stepped out of their comfort zone, he played to his strengths with his short Kottai Pakku Vathalum…Mottai Maadi Sitharum with Nasser and Thambi Ramaiah.
A still from ‘Victim’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
M Rajesh, known for his comedy films, gets into a horror-thriller zone with Mirage. Pa Ranjith, meanwhile, says he has been reading about Buddhism. The reflection of which, he says, can be seen in Dhammam starring Kalaiarasan and Guru Somasundaram. But that is not just it. The 17-page screenplay Ranjith wrote for Dhammam was inspired by a childhood incident, which becomes an important moment in the film. “On my way to school, there used to be a ridge that we would cross. One of us should get down from the ridge to pave the way for others. I would tell myself that I shouldn’t be the one getting down in the swamp. There is a caste politics in that too,” he says.
Though a violent tale, Ranjith feels that dhamam is what is required in today’s times. “With violence, you cannot achieve much in life but with dhamam, you can.”
Ranjith yet again works with his favourite Kalaiarasan. About the comfort they share, Ranjith says, “In all my films, I try to understand my actors’ strengths. Once I get that understanding, I try to bring out the potential in them. That way I feel Kalaiarasan is a brilliant actor. He is observant and delivers what I want. I deal with real human emotions in my films. So far, he is the best when it comes to portraying that.”
Victim releases on SonyLIV on August 5.
