Payanigal Gavanikkavum, the upcoming Tamil film starring actors Vidharth and Karunakaran, departs significantly from the Malayalam movie it is based on, says director SP Sakthivel. “It is definitely not a frame-by-frame remake,” he adds.
The film is an adaptation of the Malayalam film Vikruthi (2019), which itself was based on the real incidents that took place on Kochi metro. Starring Suraj Venjaramoodu and Soubin Shahir, it revolved around an incident where the picture of a sleeping hearing/speech-impaired man was taken by a co-passenger in the metro and shared online with a caption stating that he was drunk. Ajeesh P Thomas had written the story, screenplay and dialogues of the film.
The first look poster of Payanigal Gavanikkavum was released on social media on Thursday. The film is set to stream on Aha Tamil from April 29.
The Tamil adaptation is helmed by Sakthivel, who has previously directed Urumeen (2015), and is produced by T Vijaya Raghavendra.
Speaking about Payanigal Gavanikkavum, Sakthivel says, “It is essentially a social drama that will have a message on cell phone and social media use. We share a lot of information using a mobile phone these days. While it is good in a way, sometimes the things we post are fake. What one person’s actions can cause and how it affects another person is what this story is essentially about. The beauty of this film is that no one is a bad character.”
Vidharth plays a school librarian and Vallalar devotee, who is deaf, while Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli essays his wife, who is also deaf. Karunakaran plays a man from a Christian family residing at St Thomas Mount, Chennai, who is the one who puts up the post. “Both the characters are travellers on the metro and it is a key point. The title also comes from the recurring phrase used in train announcements,” the director adds.
Recommended
Speaking about adapting the film, Sakthivel says, “The original writer, Ajeesh, had written an article on the real incident. Taking that, we have changed certain sections of the story to match our local sensibilities. Geographically itself, the story is different and we have changed the backgrounds of the major characters. We have shown Vidharth as a Vallavar devotee and Karukaran as a Christian. There are about 12 scenes which are new and tailored to our sensibilities; the beginning scene is different too. A few characters have been added and some removed.”
The film went on floors around July-August 2021 and was wrapped up later that year. It has been shot by cinematographer P Pandikumar and edited by RS Sathish Kumar. The music is composed by Shamnath Nag and the film features three songs, including an adaptation of Subramania Bharati’s Pagaivanuku Arulvai poem.
After Payanigal Gavanikkavum, Sakthivel says that he will be working on the biopic of a weightlifter from Tamil Nadu and an adventure drama.