Report by Janani K
‘Why are you avoiding the media? Why don’t you give interviews anymore?’ Dhanush was kept on his toes by the media at the press meet for the highly anticipated Maari, held yesterday at the Residency Towers. Outfitted once again in a white dhoti, the actor handled the questions with deft humour, ‘I’m working 24 x 7 these days. I don’t even have time for my kids anymore!’ The packed banquet hall frequently resonated with laughter as friendly quips were shared across the dais. On stage were actors Dhanush, Vinoth, Robo Shankar, and George, theatre artist Mime Gopi, as well as director Balaji Mohan, music director turned actor Vijay Yesudas, producer Sarathkumar, and editor Prasanna.
One such moment was when Mime Gopi said that his close friends had warned him to be extremely careful during fight sequences with Dhanush, because if the final shot didn’t look good, Dhanush would beat them. Another moment of hilarity for the media-savvy professionals on stage was when Actor Vinoth talked about how nervous he was about talking in front of this crowd, how his heart rate had shot up, and his entire body had been shaking. He wasn’t the only one confessing nervousness. There was media shy debutant editor Prasanna, who, despite the boisterous encouragement, could only utter two words, ‘Thank you’.
Dhanush’s off-screen comedy was one of the reasons why shooting for Maari has become such a memorable experience for the crew. According to Robo Shankar, Dhanush would make funny faces in-between scenes, captivating his colleagues with his versatility. “Everyone at the Maari set used to observe how Dhanush reacts to each and every scene. Staying with him for the 50 days taught us so much,” he added. Director Balaji Mohan, a huge Dhanush fan, was equally verbose in his praise for the actor. He went to the extent of saying that at times, he would just enjoy Dhanush’s acting, and find himself unable to focus on his own work on the sets.
Sitting in the audience were Balaji Mohan’s parents, looking proud of their son and pleased with the impending success. Typically, like all doting parents, they would frown when some challenging questions were thrown his way. ‘You look like such a goody-goody boy, yet you’ve created such a local rowdy character. Why are there so many smoking and liquor scenes in the film?’ Time for Dhanush to intervene and clarify, ‘The character is a local don. There wouldn’t be any depth to his role if the scenes don’t depict any smoking and liquor.’
Speaking of tough characters and goody-goody actors, music director turned actor Vijay Yesudas was taken aback when Balaji Mohan suggested his name for the cop role. It seems that when Yesudas did a trial scene, Dhanush couldn’t stop laughing. It took him almost 20 minutes to settle down. Later, the entire team had to help Yesudas turn into a menacing cop for Maari.
Anirudh Ravichander disclosed that he had missed an opportunity to score music for director Balaji Mohan’s previous film Vaayai Moodi Pesavum. Actor George, known for his work on the reality show Adhu Idhu Edhu, thanked Balaji Mohan for giving him the opportunity to play such a serious role. Meanwhile, Dhanush and Sarathkumar shared several light moments on stage as well. Sarathkumar wanted Dhanush to call him thambi, and both expressed an interest in working on a movie with each other again.
