Enga Area Ulla Varaadha was the original name of Venkat’s superhit Chennai 600028. But when Venkat Prabhu went to Vaali for the first song of the film, the lyricist was critical of the name, and told him it sounded negative. The team discussed this, and inspiration came from the Hollywood film, Beverly Hills, 902010! Venkat was happy to talk about all these details when we caught up recently for the photo shoot after 15 years. There was a lot to catch up on. “I got married to this wonderful girl who was willing to wait for me, when I was a nobody. And even after marriage, things did not immediately get better. I promised her that I would spend another year in the industry, and then we would shift to the U.K. as I had a degree from there. And, then Chennai 600028 happened,” he said.
Venkat has two daughters, one of whom aspires to be a writer. She reportedly tells him of her aim to get an Oscar before him. To this, he usually says, his coming timing intact, “I am not even capable of getting a Bhaskar award.” During our younger days, I knew Venkat for being quite the kadalai man. I wasn’t going to miss an opportunity to shoot him, doing just that!