Madhil Mel Kaadhal, the upcoming Tamil film starring Mugen Rao and Divya Bharathi in the lead, is expected to release in theatres in January 2022 (around Republic Day), says director Anjana Ali Khan.
Mugen released the first look poster of the film on social media recently.
In conversation with Silverscreen India, Anjana, who has previously helmed the 2011 Tamil crime action film Veppam, adds, “Madhil Mel Kaadhal is a romantic film with a lot of comedy portions. While there is an emotional foundation to the love story, it is a breezy film. The one-liner would be: just being in love with each other is not enough to make a relationship work. How the couple comes to understand this, and their process of making the relationship work, forms the story.”
Explaining the title, the filmmaker says, “The phrase madhil mel poonai means ‘cat on a wall’. You don’t know which side the cat will jump. Mugen’s character is like that. He is slightly commitment-phobic. And he can be both madly in love and hate romance. He is unpredictable that way.”
Anjana has also written the film. This story was one among many in her script bank and when the producers approached her, she felt this script would be apt for Mugen. The film is produced by Shirdi Productions.
Speaking about how she has written the female characters, the filmmaker explains, “There are two things that one has to balance simultaneously. The first thing is the genesis of the story I want to tell and whose it is – whether it is the boy’s or girl’s. It is not about making it hero-centric. Whose story is narrated matters. Now, given I am a woman, the female characters in this film are all very strong and have an individuality. They are written with care and sensitivity, with the scope to make an impact, instead of being two-dimensional stereotypes. The female protagonist here is a strongly-written character. But, at the end of the day, it is his story. The film will have a fair balance of these two factors.”
Recommended
In addition to the lead pair, Madhil Mel Kaadhal features an impressive supporting cast that includes Anu Hasan, Subbu Panchu, Sakshi Agarwal, and Nizhalgal Ravi, among others.
Nivas K Prasanna has composed the music for the film, which features four songs.
Madhil Mel Kaadhal has been in production for the last 1.5 years since filming was interrupted by the pandemic. The project went on floors in 2019 and was wrapped up this year. It was shot in Chennai by cinematographer Goutham George, with editing handled by Anthony.
The film is currently in post-production.
Anjana is also collaborating with Mugen on another film backed by the same production house. Titled Vettri, it will be an “emotional, intense, hard-hitting subject,” says the filmmaker, adding that this film only has about 15-18 days of shooting left.