Silverscreen goes to the Vanhmam press meet..
“I liked the chemistry between Kreshna and Vijay Sethupathi,” said Jai Krishna, the director of Vanhmam at the movie’s press meet on Tuesday. “They were very co-operative and lived like brothers during the shoot.”
And as if on cue, a host of we-love-Vijay-Sethupathi speeches ensued from that moment.
Subramaniapuram Raja, a supporting artiste, who worked with Vijay Sethupathi in Sundarapandian, said, “I played his elder brother in Sundarapandian. I used to call him thambi then. He was a small artiste at that time. I was hesitant to call him thambi while filming Vanhmam. But he hasn’t changed at all. He still respects me.” Actor Bose Venkat declared that he learnt an important life-lesson from Vijay Sethupathi. However, since the latter requested Venkat to not reveal the secret, Venkat settled for a mischievous “that lesson has changed my life!”
Choreographer Poppy was quite proud about making Vijay Sethupathi attend rehearsals. “First time in his career, Vijay Sethupathi has danced a lot. I’m glad that it happened in my film. He would refuse to come for rehearsals. But when I reached the venue one day, he was already there,” laughed Poppy. The actor later added that he loved dancing for the movie.
Sethupathi, when it was his turn to talk on-stage, revealed that he agreed to work in Vanhmam because he admired Jai Krishna. After having worked as an associate director for about 25 years, Jai Krishna makes his directorial debut with this flick. “Jai Krishna might be an old member in the industry. But his script is refreshing and I didn’t want to say no,” said Sethupathi. The film is set in Nagercoil, and Sethupathi found the dialect difficult. “They pronounce the words quite clearly. It took me a while to practice their dialect.”
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Actor Kreshna, on the other hand, seemed to have rehearsed his opening line. “Enakku padathula romance-oda bromance thaan jaasthi,” he said in a dramatic tone. “I spent 50 days with Vijay Sethupathi. Before the shoot, I was very nervous to work with him. Because I can’t act. And he is a versatile actor. Character-oda skin-kulla illa, bone-kulla povaaru. And Sethu is not egotistic.”
Sunaina stars opposite Kreshna in Vanhmam. Despite the publicist calling her twice to the podium, she couldn’t stop relishing the Cadbury’s Silk that was handed to her by child artiste Mini, who was celebrating her birthday. “Sorry, I was eating chocolate. I am an addict!” exclaimed Sunaina. She briefly spoke of working with Kreshna and of her girl-next-door look in the movie.
Although Sunaina is a part of the film, the script didn’t warrant a heroine for Vijay Sethupathi’s role.
Was it difficult to work without a heroine? A member of the audience queried.
Sethupathi shot back, “Enn heroine veetla irukaanga, brother!”