This weekend’s marquee release Mr Chandramouli brings together the real-life father and son pair of Karthik and Gautham Karthik for the first time. The film is being promoted as an "emotional" thriller, as it pays heed to all the commercial elements as well, apart from its core subject.
We speak to three key members of the team on the film’s specialty and the experience on the whole. First up, we catch actor Gautham Karthik, who has just come back from his A-rated entertainers to do a genuine crowd pleaser.
Asking him on what made him pick up this project, he says, “I loved the script and how our director Thiru had organised the characters and their travel throughout. Mr Chandramouli comes off as a complete entertainer with something in it for everybody. Moreover, it gave me a wonderful opportunity to share the screen with my dad. I play a boxer in the film.”
Gautham cannot help but smile when he's asked about the first opportunity of shooting with his father Karthik.
“During my school days, I couldn’t spend much time with my dad as opposed to what everybody thinks, as I studied in Ooty. I never had the experience of visiting his sets or watching him work. When we came to the shooting spot of this film, it was a magical feeling to observe his every move and tactic. I didn’t realise why people call him a legend, until I actually felt it all here," he says.
Gautham will soon start shooting for his rural entertainer Devarattam directed by Muthaih of Komban and Marudhu fame. Manjima Mohan pairs up with him in the film.
Next in line is Thiru, the director of Mr Chandramouli. After making three successive films with Vishal, ie. Theeradha Vilayaatu Pillai, Samar and Naan Sigappu Manithan, it’s certain that his brand of thrillers always have an entertainment quotient embedded in them.
“After Naan Sigappu Manithan, I was in talks with actor Vikram for a project named Garuda. We even went for the recce to the Gulf, but the film didn’t take off for various reasons. I also worked on another family-based thriller with Jai and Taapsee, but unfortunately, the shoot got stalled in the middle. For close to one and a half years, myself and Gautham had been in talks to work on a film together. When Mr Chandramouli came up, we had no qualms in going ahead with the project and somehow convinced Karthik sir to be a part of it," he says.
Speaking about the genre, he adds, “The film is a mix of three elements – a beautiful father-son relationship, a worrying scam related to cab services which we regularly read about in the news these days, and a third surprise factor that is under wraps for now. Just like my earlier films, I have conceived a new idea in Mr Chandramouli too. We have not revealed it before the release as it would spoil the movie-watching experience, but I am sure that the audiences will enjoy it. Post the interval, the characterisation of the hero will take a huge turn. It is definitely something new in Indian cinema, I could not even take references from anywhere.”
One of the most important selling points of the film has been the beach song ‘Yedhedho Aanene’, which has come out beautifully. Thiru has something to say about that too.
“Gautham and Regina worked out for close to a month and a half to get their bodies right in order to fit into the costumes well. I wanted the end result to be aesthetic, and not vulgar. If not for cinematographer Richard and choreographer Brinda master, it would have been impossible to get the output that we have in hand today.”
Actor Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, who has constantly been in the news for her upcoming biggies like Sarkar and Maari-2, has a special role in Mr Chandramouli.
“For me, this film is unlike anything I’ve done so far in my career. I play a bubbly but mature character, and the unit keeps saying that my role is the heart of the story. Thiru has experimented with both my looks and my onscreen behaviour,” she says.
After the success of Vikram Vedha, Varu is a part of close to half-a-dozen films, with each role varying from the other. Talking about being picked in alternative shades mostly, she says, “It’s about the interest that a character creates for me. An actor should be able to do everything, and not just get typecast in heroine roles. I play a loud and furious lady in Sandakozhi-2, a journalist in Velvet Nagaram, a village girl in Kanni Raasi, and Sarkar – let it be a surprise!”