The teaser of Vasantha Mullai, the upcoming trilingual action-thriller starring actor Bobby Simha in the lead, was released by the makers of the film on social media on Friday. Aside from Tamil, the film will also be released as Vasantha Kokila in Telugu and Kannada. It was shot simultaneously in all three languages.
The film, written and directed by filmmaker Ramanan Purushothama, is produced under the banners SRT Entertainment and Mudhra’s Film Factory.
Speaking to Silverscreen India about his directorial debut, Ramanan says, “Bobby Simha sir had called me after seeing my short film Mathi Mayanginen in 2019. I pitched the idea of Vasantha Mullai to him and that’s how it all began.” While the idea dates back to his college days, he gradually developed it from a single line to a story and wrote the screenplay after he met the actor.
About making the film in three languages, Ramanan says, “I wrote the script in Tamil first and we had a separate technical crew for each language. Our goal was to achieve the same authenticity that we have in Tamil in other languages as well. Since the subject is universal, it made it easier.”
While the Tamil dialogues were written by Ponni Valavan, Rajesh A Moorthy and Nagarjun Sharma have written the Telugu and Kannada dialogues, respectively.
The film stars actor Kashmira Pardeshi alongside Simha. Ramanan says Pardeshi’s character Nila is paired with Simha’s Rudhran. “The whole story revolves around Rudhran and Nila. From the first scene until the end, the story does not go beyond them. We also have other known faces in the cast, but we’re keeping them a surprise,” he adds.
The filmmaker says giving a one-liner about the thriller would give away the story. “There is something big that we all forget, something we don’t give importance to in our lives. We go behind other things instead. This film will make people realise that and care about this important issue,” he adds cryptically.
Ramanan says the title refers to the geographical term for forest areas in Tamil, mullai, as forests play a major role in the film. “The story happens in that geography. We shot 90% of the film in rain, forests, storm, and darkness,” he adds.
Recommended
The film was shot in Vagamon, Kerala, and in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Filming commenced in November 2019 and 95% of the shooting was completed before the Covid-19 lockdown. The remainder was completed after the lockdown was lifted last year. The director says the film is currently in the final stages of post-production and the team is working on sound-mixing and colour grading.
The music is composed by Rajesh Murugesan (Neram, Premam) and Ramanan reveals that the film has four songs. “We have finished composing those along with the background score.”
The filmmaker says the team is working towards a release in theatres. “All of us want the film to be released in theatres. Let’s hope for the best,” he signs off.