As I park my scooter behind Sathyam Cinemas, I hear a security guard at the far end shouting to his colleague “Madhavan Sir vandacha?” (Has Madhavan Sir come?) I’m asking myself the exact same question. We’re welcomed inside with the film’s songs, composed by Santhosh Narayanan. Producer Sashikanth is busy greeting the guests on one side. Santhosh Narayanan is also there, along with his family. He’s happily posing for a few selfies with his fans.
As I settle into my usual seat in the second row, I notice a series of flashes behind me. Suriya has arrived, followed by Madhavan. Stylishly outfitted in a suit, Madhavan is sporting the same hairy bearded look from Irudhi Suttru. Nest comes Rajkumar Hirani. A few last photographs with Suriya, Madhavan, and director Sudha Kongara, and the event finally begins.
First up is an unplugged performance of the song Usuru Narambula, by Santhosh Narayanan and his daughter Dheekshita, credited as Dhee in the album.
LIVE on #Periscope: Live on #Periscope : #SanthoshNarayanan‘s Live performance at the #IrudhiSuttru Audio Launch https://t.co/Fx7hD9A04e
— Silverscreen.in (@silverscreenin) January 4, 2016
After a soulful rendition of the song, Sashikanth spoke with emotion about how hard the team had worked to complete the film, overcoming fund-related issues.
Things took a light-hearted turn after that. UTV’s Dhananjayan invited Siddharth on stage, but mistakenly referred to his next film as “Jil Jung Jal“. Siddharth cheekily replied, “If you don’t know my film’s name, please do ask me beforehand”. He added that he was indebted to Madhavan. Why? Because only after Madhavan moved to Bollywood did Siddharth get branded as Kollywood’s ‘chocolate boy’. To the delight of the audience, he told Madhavan, “You need to leave immediately, because they are calling you the chocolate boy again. There can only be one chocolate boy among us, no matter how old we get.”
Balaji Mohan chipped in with a comment about the new rage for beards. He said, “The beard is getting popular and guys like me are trying it on. But Madhavan and Suriya are also sporting it and that makes us look bad in comparison.”
Sudha Kongara, the director, was welcomed on stage with whistles and hoots from the cast and crew. Madhavan declared that his character is actually Sudha in real life, and said she was one of the toughest people he had ever come across. Sudha responded by saying that everyone had good things to say about her because it was a public event, and they had to maintain decorum. She spoke highly of Rajkumar Hirani, who played a crucial role in reviving the film after it had come to a near standstill during production.
Ritika Singh, the film’s female lead, arrived in black formals. The crew said they had trouble recognising her, given her de glam look in the film. A professional boxer, Ritika said she now enjoys acting more than boxing. Her talent as an actress was evident in the trailer. Madhavan said that any casting director would have laughed at them if they had asked for a 17-year old girl who could box like a champion, speak both Hindi and Tamil, and act really well. He said they were lucky to have found Ritika. “I don’t think even physically strong men can go through what Ritika and Mumtaz (the second female lead) went through,” he added
In one scene, Ritika tells Madhavan that she loves him, only to hear him say that he’s as old as her father. “In reality, I am actually two years older than her father,” said Madhavan. He added that he had made nearly ten new friends for life through the film.
Rajkumar Hirani thanked the on-stage crew for speaking in English just for him. But, he said it was unnecessary as he understood Tamil after watching so many Tamil films. He even counted from one to ten in Tamil to prove his point. He said Indian cinema had a plethora of talent, and he hoped the North and South would come together more often, through films like Irudhi Suttru.
