Gangster Granny, the upcoming Tamil film starring actor Saranya Ponvannan, will be the first instalment of a gangster-centric trilogy, director Vishnu Ramakrishnan tells Silverscreen India in an exclusive interview.
The film’s first look poster was released by actor Jiiva via social media on Friday. Gangster Granny is produced by Venkata Srinivas and Murali Krishna.
Speaking about the project’s timeline, Vishnu says, “I contacted Saranya ma’am on January 21 and subsequently met her. After a few revisions, she approved the script and since she was available, we went on floors soon after. We began rolling on February 23. The film is almost finished; only 3-4 days of shoot are left. The post production is also nearly complete.”
Saranya, who predominantly plays mother roles in Tamil films in recent times, including in her latest film, Etharkkum Thunindhavan, essays a gangster in the upcoming film. “This is a serious gangster film, not a spoof and there will be guns and stunt sequences. The character is very innocent, but forced to become a gangster. When her family falls into trouble, she has to follow in her husband’s footsteps and become a gangster to protect them,” says Vishnu, adding that Sudesh is the film’s stunt coordinator.
On casting Saranya, Vishnu says he was looking for an “innocent” person. “It is exciting to see someone like Saranya ma’am wielding an M16 gun and shooting. At the same time, I wanted to cast a familiar face. In fact, I had envisioned her in the role when writing the script,” he adds.
Aside from Saranya, the film also features Amzath Khan and Raaj Varma as her son-in-law and the film’s antagonist, respectively.
The filmmaker tells us he conceived the idea in November 2021, after which he wrote the story for all three parts. “The title, Gangster Granny is the seed that I had in my mind. During my school days, I had a friend and we used to spend a lot of time together. There used to be a grandmother in that friend’s house, who would catch us chilling and threaten to tell our parents. Her behaviour reminded me of a gangster’s and we used to call her ‘gangster granny.’ That is how I got the name.”
The screenplay and dialogues were written by the filmmaker in collaboration with AK (Akash).
Vishnu says the second and third instalments will be titled Gangster Grandpa and Gangster Paradise, respectively. “It is a huge story and one part of it will be revealed in Gangster Granny,” he adds.
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The film has been shot in Chennai and in the forests of Auroville. While the first part is based in Chennai, the second and third part will be set in Goa and Brazil, respectively. The film is shot and edited by Anish Krishna, and has music composed by KS Manoj. The film will feature only two songs although the album will consist of five or six songs, the director says.
Gangster Granny is expected to be completed by the middle of May and the team is looking for a mid-2022 worldwide theatrical release. “The producers have given us much-needed support and freedom for this script. The entire trilogy will be backed by the same producers,” Vishnu says.
Before moving on to the second installment, however, Vishnu will next be helming a horror-comedy film, backed by Ayngaran International.