Chekka Chivantha Vaanam co-writer Siva Ananth on film's comparison to Ponniyin Selvan, its Mughal inspiration

Mani Ratnam’s  Chekka Chivantha Vaanam  is turning out to the biggest hit in the maverick filmmaker’s career. The film is actually co-written by Siva Ananth who has been working as an assistant director with Mani Ratnam since Dil Se (1998). Talking about all the positive reviews and phenomenal numbers at the box office, Siva says, “Obviously I’m very happy because we make films only for the audience. It’s good to know that our taste is in sync with the majority, it gives a high." [caption id=“attachment_5273051” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Promo for Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Twitter[/caption] In an earlier interview to Firstpost, cinematographer Santosh Sivan said that Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is the audience-friendly film from Mani Ratnam. So when asked how much did Siva contribute in making it a mainstream affair, the writer said: “Mani sir has fans from six to sixties and also got international honors so there is no necessity for me to contribute the mainstream flavour to his film. The script itself is about brothers’ rivalry so, from the word go, audiences get attached to it. There is a plenty of scope for drama with each and every character." Some believe Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is loosely based on the Korean drama New World and others say that the core plot is derived from Tamil novel Ponniyin Selvan but Ananth says that the thirst for power among all the sons of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is a big inspiration for him to write the script of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. “In Ponniyin Selvan, both the brothers share a great bond and they never fought for power but if you look at the story of Shah Jahan and his conflict with his four sons, they had the thirst to taste power. Aurangzeb defeated his own brother and imprisoned his dad to rule the Mughal Kingdom. Such stories happened all over the world and I placed the same conflict within the Mafia family which operates like an ancient kingdom. When I told this basic idea to Mani sir, he asked me to direct the film but I told him that only he can handle such an ensemble of actors. A few months later, Mani sir said he loved the script and immediately, we started writing the script. For those who are comparing our film with New World, I haven’t seen the film yet," says Siva who also co-wrote Sachin Tendulkar’s docudrama biographical film Sachin: A Billion Dreams. Talking about the scripting process of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Siva says, “Mani sir and I took nearly thirty days to complete the first version of the script. We didn’t take any break which means right from early morning to the end of the day for nearly one month. Before the writing process, we discussed the ideas and researched for the script for seven months." Siva says Mani Ratnam enjoys working with other writers. In Tamil, he worked with Balakumaran, Jeyamohan and Sujatha and in Hindi, Mani sir worked with Anurag Kashyap in Yuva. “In olden days, Mani sir used to write his scripts in pencil. Now, he got used to the Tamil software and writes his scripts on the computer. Before locking the script, he would discuss the idea with the assistants but once Mani sir gets into writing mode, he never consults with anyone. After locking the first version, he would again discuss with us," explains Siva on the scripting procedure of Mani Ratnam who also gives the script to his actors and ask them to thoroughly read it. [caption id=“attachment_5345621” align=“alignnone” width=“720”] Siva Ananth (top centre) and Mani Ratnam (R)[/caption] Throughout the film, Vijay Sethupathi was just shown as a corrupt cop who lacks the power unlike the other three protagonists. Siva says that the actor didn’t care much about his image. “Not just Vijay Sethupathi, we didn’t spend much time to convince our actors. The entire cast read the script and loved their characterisations; they immediately came on board. Of course, to lock the cast we approached various names," reveals Siva who acted as the maternal uncle of the three brothers in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam and also played as Dulquer’s brother in O Kadhal Kanmani. “Mani sir asked me to play the character in the film. When he asks something, I would immediately do and there is nothing much to think about it," he smiles. Everyone in the film is named as kings, Ethiraja (STR), Varadaraja (Arvind Swamy), Thyagaraja (Arun Vijay) and even the young son of Prakash Raj’s daughter was named as Raja (King) by Arvind Swamy. “Glad that you noticed this aspect of the film. They live their life like kings so we named their characters with the suffix ‘Raja’. In fact, in a scene, Aditi calls Arvind as Nawab which is the title for the Telugu version of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam," explains the writer who also directed a Telugu film titled Chukkallo Chandrudu featuring Siddharth in the lead. “Madras Talkies is always ready to fund my films but things should fall in place. First I have to get a proper script," he smiles. In one scene, Jyothika suffers a massive loss and any other lady in her place would have scolded STR who caused the irreplaceable damage but she only cursed him with respect (Nalla Iruppiya Thambi Nee — You will not live peacefully. brother). “While writing dialogues, we usually think from the point of view of the characters. STR is Jyothika’s cousin and the way she grew up will not allow her to use any foul words in that situation," says Siva who also explains why women in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam are portrayed as collateral damage. “In the mafia world, women are being treated just like how we portrayed in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. All of them know about the extramarital affairs of their husbands yet, they enjoy the power and money in the family. This is very much similar to the situation that persists in the families of our ancient kings," he says. Siva Ananth worked with Mani Ratnam when the director tried to adapt Ponniyin Selvan as a historical drama. “Mani sir approached Vijay to play Vallavarayan Vanthiyathevan and Mahesh Babu for Arunmozhi Varman’s (Chozha King) role.  Both the actors loved the idea but due to budget and other constraints, we dropped the film. Mani sir has a great respect to both these actors and they also love to do a film with him," said Siva, who signed off by saying that the work for Mani Ratnam’s next has already commenced and soon, after locking the script, they will be making an official announcement.