During a Galatta Plus conclave to commemorate the 35-year-anniversary of Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan, the filmmaker reflected on the inspirations, working with Kamal Haasan for the first time, coming up with the film’s look, and more…
Edited excerpts:
You were a relative newcomer (when making Nayakan), having made four films before Mouna Raagam. How did you and Kamal Haasan manage to build trust between each other?
I’ve known Kamal sir even before getting into films. When I decided to get into films, I spent a lot of evenings at his compound with a few friends discussing movies, and he used to tell us about the films he was doing at the time, so I’ve known him as someone with whom I can bounce ideas off. He was always open to youngsters and newer thoughts. So, it was not difficult for me to deal with him; he wasn’t an alien in that sense. Because he had already worked with so many directors, he was confident that he could work with any director and do his stuff. Nayakan wouldn’t have existed without him.
The audience already knows that Velu Naicker may be a man doing bad things but for a good reason. What led you to make the character question himself since the audience already knows the answer to “neenga nallavara kettavara“?
This is a question I had when I was in Bombay and felt that the people taught of him (the real-life inspiration) as a protector, and I was conflicted. There are two sides – how do they co-exist? Only because we voiced it through a child could we convey it simplistically. It still doesn’t have an answer. It’s still relevant to most people, including myself. There are shades of both in each of us.
You’ve mentioned talking to Ilaiyaraaja about the music for the film’s different periods. What were the discussions with PC Sreeram (cinematographer) and Thota Tharani (art director)?
We did some tests with PC because it is easy to go with the conventional sepia tone for the period look. One strange thing happened. When the project came into being, at one point, Kamal sir gave us a three-day schedule, but I told him I wasn’t ready as I was only halfway through. He suggested using the three days as a test. And I was shocked because here I was, coming from Mouna Raagam with hardly any money, and he talked about doing three get-ups for one scene and it was okay if it wasn’t used in the film because we would start the next month after he returned from a film festival. We also used the three-day shoot to test the film’s look with PC. It was an evolving thing with him. We decided earlier that we wouldn’t use HMI (lights) for that cold look. So we started shooting and after 9 o’clock, he said, “Can we have the HMI?” It was basically taking one decision, then realizing it’s not right, and then course-correcting to find a path. We also had this terrific art director giving you a period, and since properties and costumes were done, the feel came through, to a large extent. And with somebody like PC, it was so easy to let him enhance it.
Watch the full conversation at:
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