''I FELT GUILTY WRITING VISAARANAI'' - VETRI MAARAN

As we all know, director Vetri Maaran won the Best Direction and Best Screenplay National film awards for his second film Aadukalam which released in 2011. But it’s been 4 years since and we haven’t had a single release from the director yet.

 

His upcoming film Visaaranai had a south Asian premiere yesterday at a famous film festival in Mumbai. The film attracted a full house and also ended up getting a standing ovation from the audience who witnessed it.

 

Since it was a film festival, Visaaranai was screened without any cuts and mutes. It also had its share of cuss words, which however were not force-fitted. It was intense, gripping and brutally beautiful.

 

Vetri Maaran answered a few questions posed by the audience after the screening.

 

How did you come up with the idea of making this film?

 

It was adapted from a novel written by Chandra Kumar. The first half was based on the book and the second half was inspired from other real life incidents. I read Chandra Kumar’s book in the month of July 2014, started the film in August and finished it by December. But I have been editing it until 3 days back.

 

With regard to the violence, only 20 percent of what was in the book is shown in the film. All the lashes that they get in the film are real, only the tools were artificial. The pain was real. I felt guilty writing the second half, it was a painful process.

People might disagree but I have tried to stay out of gore. I didn't want to show blood, in that way it is little less painful for the viewers.

 

How do you make such real films? You have not been prisoned, you have not been involved in rooster fights, but how do you make films on these subjects so convincingly?

 

I guess you just need to have some empathy and understanding, to make films.

 

About the music?

 

This film is too real to have music but we cannot go without music for commercial reasons. The version of Visaaranai screened at Venice didn’t have music at all, but this one had music at 5 moments.

 

How different would this version be, from that of the theatrical version?

 

It will be less brutal in the sense that the physical abuse will be lessened by 20 percent. 

 

Why don’t we see many south Indian films going to film festivals?

 

People actually don’t know how to go about it. I screened the film at Venice with the help of a friend but some others are still not aware of the process yet.

 

Visaaranai was supposed to release last December but we thought of taking the festival route and popularize it, before it reaches a wider audience.

 

About Attakatti Dinesh?

 

He acted in my previous film too. I felt the film needed a hero who could tolerate all the physical abuse and pain. In one scene his palm broke out but he was ok with it and came back for the shoot moments later.

 

It was a boon to have such actors. They were put under so much stress, both mentally and physically. They in fact had to go for counseling after finishing the film to relieve their stress.

 

Avinash Pandian