Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum, the first of the four Tamil films from actor Suriya’s 2D Entertainment banner set to release on Amazon Prime Video this year, is a political satire, says its director Arisil Moorthy in a conversation with Silverscreen India.
While the film is slated to premiere in September, the exact release date has not been announced yet.
Arisil, who assisted Sudha Kongara during the pre-production of Suriya-starrer Soorarai Pottru (2020), is making his directorial debut with this film. The native of Theni has also written the script. “I wanted to make a political satire, but also something that depicted my village nativity,” he says.
And so, he chose to make a satire set in a village. Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is about a village that is breaking news on all television channels across India. However, the villagers don’t have electricity to watch TV. The primary character is Kunnimuthu, a 35-year-old innocent farmer who loses his beloved bulls, Karuppan and Vellaiyan. When searching for his bulls with a friend, he meets a reporter who helps him.
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“The protagonist is inspired by a neighbour in my village from my childhood. He used to interact a lot with animals and converse with them as though they were humans. That character stayed on in my mind and I entwined it with the current political scenario for the film,” says Arisil.
Though the film prominently features bulls, the filmmaker clarifies that it does not touch upon the sport of jallikattu, but is instead about the bonding between a family and their bulls.
Arisil wrote the script of Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum as a “small film” in 2019 before submitting it to 2D Entertainment. “I had submitted the first draft to Rajsekar Pandian of 2D Entertainment, but they had several commitments at the time and could not get to it. However, later, they read it and agreed to back the film. We were set to go on floors in 2020, but the lockdown forced a delay.”
The film was eventually shot in March-April 2021, in Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, with cinematographer Sukumar helming the camera.
The cast of the film includes Ramya Pandian, Vani Bhojan, Mithun Manickam, and Vadivel Murugan, and the director says casting was the toughest part in the making the film. “We wanted to introduce fresh faces, but it was tough to get the right cast through auditions. Finally, Ramya Pandian responded to our casting call and she was selected. She plays Veerayi, the wife of the protagonist, while Mithun Manickam, who has worked as promotional head of 2D, essays the husband’s role. Vani Bhojan plays the journalist and Vadivel Murugan plays a supporting character,” he adds.
Arisil was also particular about the pair of bulls featured in the film. “We bought them in 2019 itself. We looked at more than a 100 pairs before finding the right ones. We wanted bulls of the right age and physique. They had to have a similar appearance and a specific lakshanam (set of features) but it wasn’t easy to find them because countryside bulls have become a rare breed now. We had to search through most of the local breeders in Tamil Nadu. Finally, we found the right pair in Pollachi.”
The music of Raame Aandalum Raavane Aandalum is composed by singer Krish. “The film originally did not contain any songs, but we later decided to include a few and zeroed in on Krish as the composer. He has given us good tunes,” says the director, adding that there are a total of five songs.
The film is currently in the final stages of post-production, and Suriya, who has seen it, is satisfied with the output, Arisil adds. “Suriya sir appreciated the simple narration and the realistic feel of the film. He said the presence of the camera is not felt at all, which adds to the realism.”