Director Ramesh Aravind speaks on 'Uttama Villain'
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Just imagine this—you are a fan of an actor and he is your inspiration to get into films, later you share screen space with him and become good friends. Years after, you are getting a chance to direct a script written by him and icing on the cake is that he is playing the lead role in it. Well, we are talking about Ramesh Aravind— who is on cloud nine as his most ambitious project Uttama Villain starring the one and only Kamal Haasan is all set to be released on May 1.
Here a brief chat with the director. Excerpts…
You acted with Kamal Haasan in Sathi Leelavathi… later you directed him in the Kannada version Rama Shama Bhama and now Uttama Villain. Tell us about your friendship…
Actually my relationship with Kamal sir started as a co-actor. When you do a film, you chat with the other actors on the sets and then you find people who are alike, who have same interest. Though you meet 60 actors in a film, some relationships continue beyond films.
Like the famous saying ‘Birds of a feather flock together’, we then collaborated in my first Kannada directorial in which Kamal sir acted and it was a big hit there. Now my first Tamil-Telugu directorial debut is Uttama Villain which is again with Kamal sir. So it’s been a rewarding friendship!
We are all amazed by Kamal Haasan’s detailed portrayal, there will be many underlying message in one scene and the great thing is it will be there in the visual format, though camera angles and coloring. Can we expect the same in Uttama Villain?
After seeing the trailer, people talk about the spectacle, grandeur in making and eye-catchy visuals. Beyond all these things, what I personally liked about Uttama Villain or what you will like later is that it is a very heartwarming story.
When you go back home, you might ask yourself ‘Is this is the right way to lead your life?’ I think, that’s the best part of the movie.
Do you think, Uttama Villain is a rehearsal to Kamal Haasan on what he actually wants to make after 10 years like the great master Clint Eastwood? Because the trailer indicates that the film has zero heroism and no violence.
No comparisons! Clint Eastwood is a man who did cow boy kind of films and all of a sudden he directed some wonderful film like Million Dollar Baby, the kind of films he directed and the kind of films he acted are completely different but that happens to all of us. As an actor, you have some limitations but as a director you can do certain things which you couldn’t do as an actor, that’s what happened to me in Uttama Villain.
Coming to Kamal sir, he is not having any such limitations as he can do any role but the truth is that at different age, different kind of films will excite you. A love story which excited you at the age of twenty five might not excite you when you are forty, you want to say deeper things in your life and you have a lot of questions which might have probably induced the writer Kamal Haasan in Uttama Villain.
Kamal would have probably incorporated some real life problems what he has faced but definitely not an auto-biographical. In Uttama Villain, Kamal plays to his real-life age and he has a daughter, he has a son and their emotional bond in one side whereas you can also the typical entertainer Kamal Haasan in the other side.
So Uttama Villain is a drama?
Yes, it will begin as a family drama but also has a musical-folklore in it.
But these days our audiences have started liking fast paced movies. What you want to tell them... What kind of movie they are about to see?
They are about to see a heart touching film which is technically well made, which is also a huge spectacle, which is also a musical folklore but above all as an audience they are going to see a well narrated story.
So get ready for the story which is well told!
Is the 8th century portion in the film is a fantasy?
Yes, you are right!
The connecting point between the 8th century and the present portion..
That part has been done very smartly and I don’t want to leak it now. The transition is not only going to be in visuals or color tones alone but there is an emotional transition as well, so altogether it’s wonderful to watch it on screen.
Kamal has said that people have started calling every film as musical but Uttama Villain is indeed the real musical film. So tell us about Ghibran…
True, Uttama Villain is indeed a musical and about Ghibran, if somebody listen to the film’s music and then watch it along with the visuals, they might probably expect some seasoned music director who is in his late fifties. In reality Ghibran has done just done four films but the talent he has got is unbelievable.
Tell us about your experience of directing an actor like Kamal Haasan…
I think, it’s an absolute delight for any director to watch Kamal Haasan perform. I wish every director gets an actor like Kamal Haasan, the way he emotes, the way he carries the film on his shoulders and the commitment he put is unparalleled.
I’m sure every director secretly wishes to have an actor like Kamal Haasan in their film. At the end of the day, a director’s story could be well communicated only through an actor and in that case Kamal Haasan has reduced half of my job!
About the heroines…
Parvathy Menon – She has done a tremendous job and once the film gets released, I’m sure she will be the talk of the town
Pooja Kumar – She is a complete professional and rehearse everything well before the shoot.
Andrea – I think she is very natural and that helps in her character in the film. In Uttama Villain, her character is very complex and she carried out it in a dignified fashion.
Urvashi – She is playing Kamal sir’s wife in the film. In Uttama Villain, here is a scene at nursing home and I would say any aspiring actress should go and watch her performance in that particular scene to learn how a good acting should be…
K Balachander has said many good things about both you and Kamal in the making video. He seemed to be impressed with the last shot to first shot shooting style of yours?
Actually, that strategy is very normal now as many people are doing it but what was fascinating is that he said ‘How the though process of me and Kamal sir are the same?’ We told him, sir we came from your school so what’s the big surprise?