At the press meet of Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran, supporting actor Soori said that the title means “When it comes to work, be an Englishman.” Englishmen, he explained, know how to have fun in their free time, but when there’s work, they’re sincere and hardworking. Apparently, that’s how the phrase originated. Whether there’s truth to it or not, Vishnu Vishal’s character in the film is of that type.
Director Ezhil Maran had plenty to say about his interactions with Vishnu Vishal. He spent half an hour narrating the story to Vishnu. When Vishnu asked for more details, Maran told him that he had never spent more time on narration; not ever. “The lead character, Murugan is an overzealous, ‘over-bandha’ guy. So Vishnu was quite reserved about doing a character like that. He was worried about whether it would suit him. The first day, it took him a lot of time to adjust to it. But later, once he understood the flow better, he even wanted to re-shoot the scenes taken on the first day.”
Vishnu said that he had been hesitant about a few scenes in the film, and he couldn’t make head or tail of how they would fit in. He explains with an example we could all relate to, “There’s this song in a situation where my character is very depressed, and I had to dance. I did not understand how a person in that situation would dance, really.” He adds, “But, the team managed to convince me. That’s when I realised that logic is not really the top priority when it comes to commercial films.”
Chaos ensued over Nikki Galrani’s name. First the event’s anchor called her ‘Nikkil’ Galrani. Then Soori added fuel to fire by calling her ‘Nikkira Kalyani’. Nikki, though, made him say it right. Soori had a lot of amusing anecdotes about her. According to him, she would talk non-stop from getting in the car, to the location, and until it was time to pack up for the night. He said, “She would single-handedly mess up rehearsals by laughing through them. It was unbelievable to watch her go on and on and still not get tired. Even if it was a dance sequence at 3 am, she would be on her toes.” Making the audience laugh even more, Soori added, “She has some great stunt scenes. Unfortunately, Vishnu and I were the ones who bore the brunt of it. She would land the blows at all the wrong places, and then apologise to the stunt master. The hell! The blows fell on me, not him.”
For three of the film’s crew, this is their 10th project together: Vishnu Vishal, director Ezhil and music director Sathya.
Vishnu said that when he met the media for the press meet of Neerparavai (2012), he decided that he would only do films he believed in. Since then, all his films, Mundasupatti, Jeeva, and Indru Nettru Naalai have been both critical and commercial successes. This time, as he was also a producer, he said he had high hopes for the film, especially that it would make the audience laugh their hearts out.
Velainnu Vandhutta Vellaikaran releases on the 3rd of June.
