There’s a reason why Susienthiran intends to direct socially-relevant films. Before his début, the director faced so many rejections that his films eventually became a reflection of his past. “Even if I write a simple love story today, I make it a point to take up some issue,” says Susienthiran.
Susienthiran keenly observes his surroundings that help him develop his characters. His latest film, Genius , was inspired by one such incident. “Over a decade ago, I was at a tea shop when I met an interesting person, who seemed to be an IT professional. He had tea and forgot to pay. When he was asked about the money, the guy lost his memory and got really offended. When I started thinking about him, it dawned on me that he was suffering from work pressure,” he says, adding, “These are people who subconsciously ponder on something. The first half is more about the character’s issue.”
Probably after Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu and Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer , Susienthiran has worked with newcomers for Genius . In fact, the director even shared the idea with actors Vijay, Allu Arjun and Jayam Ravi, who were quite impressed by the character. “A certain type of story cannot be told through stars. 40% of the film has a school portion, which none of the stars would agree to do. Since it’s sort of a quirky role, I felt casting a new face might do the trick and that’s how Roshan landed the role. Every actor I spoke to liked the character, but I couldn’t develop the script because I found it very difficult to write,” he says, adding that the film will appeal to youngsters.
Even though Susienthiran has collaborated with Yuvan Shankar Raja after a brief period, he believes that the camaraderie has been lost. “It continues to be a mystery till now. I couldn’t reach out to Yuvan after a point. It was the producer who brought him in for Genius . We later met and he gave us songs. But I still don’t feel comfortable around him. I even thought I shouldn’t have approached him.”
What briefing does the director give to his actors and technicians? “We did a lot of research to get the authenticities right in Jeeva and Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer . When I heard about four youngsters who were involved in this horrific murder, which became Naan Mahaan Alla later, the description I gave for the climax scene was: four jackals hunting a lion. These are some of the improvisations we do on the sets.”
Susienthiran feels that issue-based cinema is meant for film festivals. His Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai took him to global stage. However, he believes that there’s no point in making a film for the festive audience.“When a film talks about a grave social issue, it gets an unanimous reception at film festivals, where the number of audience is, say, 200. As a filmmaker, you want to reach a wider audience,” he says.
Like K Balachander and Bharathiraja, Susienthiran wants to introduce young talents in the industry. Which explains why his next film, Champion , features mostly debutants. The film will depict the challenges faced by football players.
There’s a strong political voice that seems to slowly seep into Tamil cinema. In fact, it was his assistant who directed Merku Thodarchi Malai . “When he (Lenin Bharati) shared the idea with me, the first thing I asked was: what’s the point? I was stunned after watching it. Pariyerum Perumal , too, had a brilliant message. Mari Selvaraj started a new discourse through the film. On the other hand, Pa Ranjith has established himself as a strong voice and rightly so. But at the same time, we should also be talking about the issues faced by the majority,” he adds.
