Director Nelson Venkatesan, actor SJ Suryah and the Monster team organised a second success meet at the end of the film’s two-week run in theatres. They said they never expected a simple film with no big star value to draw in crowds. The film released on May 17.
Nelson Ventakesan said, “When I wrote the film, I didn’t think it would become such a big success and that so many children would enjoy the movie. Three days before release, summer vacations started. I thought no one would want to buy tickets for the movie. Only after reading the reviews did I felt confident about my work.”
He told Silverscreen that the script was their focus and they worked on it for over a year. “It began with an incident in my house. A rat had been killed, and we couldn’t find it. I had to live with the stench for three to four days, and it was that tension and trouble that inspired the film.”
Monster was initially planned as a 100-minute film revolving around the rat. In time, Nelson decided to make it a wholesome entertainer; this is when SJ Suryah and Priya Bhavani Shankar stepped into the project. “It has been a pleasure working with the entire team. With the right content and script, I would love to work with them once again,” he said.
The film’s lead actor SJ Suryah also promised to continue acting in similar movies. “We’ve had the pleasure of a successful run in the second week. At a time when people watch films for star value, it feels good that crowds come in for good stories as well. The story is the hero of this film.” He added that the team watched the movie in theatres with the audience. “One of the children even called me Eli Mama, I took a picture with him and poster it on Twitter.”
He thanked Nelson and the producers at Potential Studios, and said the music for the film by Justin Prabhakaran was also a reason for the success.
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Shankar Dass, who co-wrote the script with Nelson, said: “The story is the soul. The rest of us come only later. Nelson gave me complete freedom to work. After Oru Naal Koothu, I was happy to work with him again.” The film’s editor VJ Sabu Joseph also said, “The film has been successful beyond expectations. Justin’s music was important for it to do well.”
Actor Karunakaran, who starred in the lead with SJ Suryah and Priya Bhavani Shankar, said: “Thank you for making a simple film a big hit, and thank you to director Nelson for giving me this opportunity. It was great to work with SJ Suryah and Priya, who got along so well with the team.”
Cinematographer Gokul Benoy, costume designer Pravin and others also spoke at the event. They shared that they would want to make more films together.