Arun Prabhu talks working with his cousin Sivakarthikeyan for Vaazhl, shares his definition of modern-day mainstream cinema

Director Arun Prabhu Purushothaman’s debut film Aruvi won several accolades upon the release and also reaped good profits at the box office. Despite delivering a sensational debut film, it took three years for Arun to come up with his next _Vaazhl_ , which is scheduled to premiere on 16 July on SonyLIV. In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, Arun says “Vaazhl was supposed to be my debut film but we couldn’t convince producers with a travel script that needs to be shot in multiple locations. My cinematographer and editor are like friends to me, we came together for Vaazhl but then, Aruvi turned out to be our first project. Regarding the delay of Vaazhl, it was supposed to release in 2019 but due to the pandemic, the release was pushed. Finally, now, we are releasing the film on SonyLIV”. While Arun is known for directing close to reality films, Vaazhl’s producer Sivakarthikeyan (who is also a cousin of Arun) is known for making gallery-pleasing commercial entertainers. Talking about his producer Sivakarthikeyan, the director says “He gave us complete freedom. Siva Anna knows the story of Vaazhl ten years back and he used to ask us about the project often. After Aruvi, we decided to work together and he didn’t even ask anything about the budget, cast, and crew details. He blindly trusted us and it only made me more responsible. A producer like him is one of the main reasons behind the quality output of Vaazhl”. Arun’s debut film Aruvi had several layers of social commentaries, raising eyebrows of many for the young filmmaker raised reasonable questions against the system. “Vaazhl doesn’t have any social commentary. It talks about a man Prakash, who works in the current IT environment. I penned this script by drawing inspiration from one of my friends whose name is also Prakash. How many non-filmy characters come into his life and change him in the journey of life is the simple crux of the film. The characters will be interesting for the viewers as their behaviour would be something that they wouldn’t have seen in films”, he says.

In his past interviews, Arun said that he would like to brand himself as a filmmaker from KS Ravikumar’s school but his films are realistic and not commercial. Arun had also pointed out that Aruvi is a modern-day commercial film.

When I asked him to define the term commercial, the director says “Firstly, I said KS Ravikumar’s school of filmmaking because have worked under him. Secondly, I always believe that we should make films for audiences and what they would like. Though cinema is an art form, we market it in a commercial space so, audiences should like our film. I don’t believe that cinema is a medium for directors to exhibit their intelligence. To define commercial cinema, I would say that any film that is liked by the audience is commercial. Though I like Baasha, Padayappa, and all other films, my works will relate to the lives of the people and I believe that any film that connects with them will work commercially”. With an amazing clarify of mainstream films and what would work at the box office, will Arun work with gallery-pleasing stars for instance someone like Sivakarthikeyan, who is his cousin? Arun says “Here, the process is different. It’s not the director, who can think and make a film with the star. First, the star should invite us and ask for scripts. Then, he would recommend a producer and we should make the film. If a star calls me and asks for scripts, I’m always ready. But it should be initiated from their end. As I said, I grew up watching those entertainers, so have no inhibitions”.

The trailer of Vaazhl is unique with speedy cuts and several common dialogues among the main characters. “We wanted the trailer to give a basic idea of what our film is all about and as a team, it’s our collective decision. They shouldn’t have a different expectation”. Arun says Pradeep Kumar’s songs will be an integral part of Vaazhl, he also adds that audiences will get a whole new different perspective after watching the visual representation of the songs. “I got the background score and songs well in advance that we shot the film with those final songs and background music. It helped us to set the emotions right”, he says. Talking about the boom of the OTT platforms, the young filmmaker says “Cinema itself is just a hundred years old art form and we had Koothu (drama) long back. Storytelling will have different forms but the basic formula is to tell them an interesting story. Platform and method can be different but the process remains the same”, he signs off.