Reporting by Janani K; Photos by Sriram Narasimhan. Photos from the press meet are below the report.
The audio launch of Anjala was held at the Prasad Labs. Director Saravanan Thangam seemed somewhat nervous. After several ‘hmmms’ and ‘aahs’, he said, “Dilip Subbarayan is the sole reason for me to stand here.” He went on to thank his entire team for standing beside him through the two year journey.
Anjala’s story revolves around an old tea shop, and the people who share a close bond with the place. The story promises to strum the heartstrings, and music director Gopi Sunder’s upbeat music has added all the right notes. Starring Vemal, Nandita, and Pasupathy (in a dual role), Anjala has been jointly produced by stunt director Dilip Subbarayan’s Farmer’s Master Plan Production, Auraa Cinemas, and First Copy Productions.
Dilip Subbarayan said, “I dedicate this film to my grandma, whose name is Anjala. I’ve fought with Gopi Sunder a lot for the music. Even when I was satisfied with the songs, he would take his own sweet time to work on them.” Subbu Panchu, who plays the negative role in Anjala, reminisced over the close bond he shared with Super Subbarayan and his family since his childhood days.
Further tributes poured in as Pasupathi called the scirpt a ‘never touched upon’ story in Tamil cinema. Editor Praveen KL said that the 15 minute flashback scenes were his favourite. Despite financial difficulties, Dilip Subbarayan wanted to shoot those scenes instead of using cartoons, he added. Gopi Sunder, who has composed for 26 films in 2014, said that Anjala would remain a special film for him, because of Dilip Subbarayan’s tireless work.
Veteran director RV Udaykumar portrays Nandita’s father in the film. He said, “I’ve clapped seeing Sivaji’s acting skills. After so many years, I clapped for Pasupathi’s acting in the movie.” Nandita pointed out an interesting pattern in her life, “The letter V is lucky to me. All my career defining films are with Vijay Sethupathi, Vijay, Vishnu Vishal, and Vemal.” Another fun fact about the film is that twelve heroes appear in the title song, “Tea Podu Tea Podu”, which has lyrics written by Lalithanand.
