''THOSE 7 DAYS WERE THE MOST FULFILLING DAYS OF MY CAREER''

Kutrame Thandanai, the second directorial of Manikandan after the much appreciated Kaaka Muttai, had its premiere show yesterday, 31st October, at a popular film festival.

The film beguiled the 100 odd people who turned up to watch it at the PVR multiplex at Phoenix Mall, Mumbai. The film was thoroughly accepted, with people clapping towards the end of the screening.

Director Manikandan also happened to answer few questions that were thrown at him after the screening. We at Behindwoods would like to present to you the Q&A session:

The director firstly thanked everyone who attended the screening. Manikandan added that he was excited as it was the first time that he saw the final draft of the film after all the post-production works.

After having directed a bunch of newbies in your first film, how different was it to work with legends like Nassar and other experienced campaigners who are a part of Kutrame Thandanai ?

It helps, we took over 60 days to shoot for Kaaka Muttai but we completed Kutrame Thandanai in 34 days. In that way, their experience comes in very handy but on the down side, seasoned actors do get into a shell, they tend to fall into a stereotype which is inevitable no matter how much they try to overcome it. In that case, newtimers bring different perspectives to the table. So both have their share of pros and cons.

The film looks to be a total contrast to Kaaka Muttai, is that a planned step?

Yes, it was a planned move. I wanted to break that image that Kaaka Muttai gave me. I feel a filmmaker should explore and not stick to a similar pattern of film-making. Moreover another film like Kaaka Muttai cannot be forcefully made, it should happen. If it has to happen, it will but I cannot try to make a Kaaka Muttai all the time.

Tell us about Ilayaraja sir’s music?

I always wanted this film to be song free. I approached him for the background score only after completing the film, he looked at me and said, “you have done an abstract style of filmmaking, so I too am going to try something different from what I generally do”. He took 7 days to complete the score, I was with him those 7 days and have even documented his work. I am in the industry for the past 15 years or so but those 7 days were the most fulfilling days of my career.

Tell us about the leads Vidharth and Pooja Devariya?

They were excellent, almost all their scenes were shot within 2 to 3 takes. In fact mostly they did it correctly on the first take but I made sure that there was always a second, for safety.

Why don’t we find many films from South being screened at film festivals?

I had some good producers who were open to send my films to film festivals but generally producers don’t give it a thought.

Avinash Pandian