AR Murugadoss on working with Vijay in Sarkar: His performance surpassed my expectations every single time

After two blockbuster collaborations in Thuppakki and Kaththi, AR Murugadoss and Vijay have teamed up for the third time in _Sarkar_ , which released worldwide yesterday to massive fan frenzy and decent reviews from critics. The project is riding on a lot of money, and it has to emerge as Vijay’s career-best grosser to be a profitable venture for all stakeholders involved. [caption id=“attachment_5518531” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  AR Murugadoss and Vijay. Facebook[/caption] “We mulled over a lot of options for the film’s title. But, nothing was as convincing and compelling as Sarkar. It was the most powerful choice. Vijay sir too liked it, and we locked the same,” said AR Murugadoss in a group interaction about the title. _Also read: Vijay's Sarkar earns Rs 47.85 cr on first day in India, outshines Sanju to emerge as 2018's highest-grossing opener_ Talking about how the third collaboration commenced between the duo, Murugadoss recalled, “When I finished Spyder, Vijay sir had also completed Mersal. That’s when we thought of collaborating one more time. In fact, I had narrated the story of Sarkar even before the release of Mersal. After the extensive post-release controversies of Mersal, he asked me if we should go ahead with Sarkar since it is a politically-charged drama or choose a different script. Then, I told him that we are neither attacking any individual nor any particular political party. Sarkar is about people and is for the people. That’s how the project kicked off.” “Sarkar talks about the power of voting and how significant it is to electoral politics,” said Murugadoss, adding that voting is a democratic right for every citizen. He further added, “But, nowadays votes are being traded for cash, and it’s a shame. That’s the crux of my story. If we lament about the political climate in our state, the blame is also on us. We should all ask ourselves if we have voted sincerely and honestly.” Vijay plays the role of Sundar Ramasamy in the film, which is produced by Sun Pictures. “I wrote the role of Vijay sir based on Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Vijay sir’s character Sundar comes down from the USA to cast his vote and finds out that it’s already cast by someone else. His histrionics have added a lot of strength to the story. There’s great drama in the screenplay, and it will be an engaging thriller with good twists. Since Sundar’s a renowned corporate czar who is well known as a problem solver, how he’s taking on the power-hungry politicians would make for an exciting watch,” revealed Murugadoss. Heaping praise on Vijay’s performance in the film, Murugadoss gushed, “Since I have worked with Vijay sir in Thuppakki and Kaththi, I had certain expectations about how he would perform a particular scene and render a specific dialogue. But, he surpassed my expectations every single time. It was a fresh experience for me too. The entire set applauded him for his performance in the lengthy two-and-a-half minute climax sequence. There are occasions when there would be certain mishaps from cinematography or the junior artists’ end, but Vijay sir would always perform his duty without any flaw.” Murugadoss says he took a lot of effort to showcase some real-life incidents in the film. “While portraying real-life emotional conflicts on screen, like the Tuticorin issue, we have to tread the line carefully. It’s a tightrope walk. Otherwise, people would accuse you of selling their emotions for money. The scenes should also resonate with them, and they should be able to connect to it,” he explains. Sarkar also marks the second association of Keerthy Suresh with Vijay after her previous outing in Bairavaa. “Keerthy Suresh is a fantastic performer. After watching Savitri, I felt really bad that I could not give her a proper performance-oriented role. I have promised her that I would write a strong character for her in one of my upcoming films,” said Murugadoss. On a concluding note, Murugadoss said, “I really don’t believe in name calling or imitating someone. I’ve not even criticized any particular politician in the film. I’ve earnestly attempted to create some political awareness through Sarkar. Since we had decided about Diwali release long back, I had written a lot of scenes keeping in mind that audiences should enjoy the film as a good festival entertainer.”