Why such a
long gap after Oram Po?
We are slow in writing and are laid back. We just
lounge around and are not go-getters. We don’t
start a project unless we are completely done with
the script till the last dialogue. And the writing
process generally takes time. We just hope that after
this project we would finish our script a little faster.
Moreover, we were waiting to meet our producer Sashikanth.
As we had formed a good team of Sashikanth of Y Not
Studios, Durai Dayanidhi and Vivek Rathnavel of Cloud
nine, it did not seem like a long wait.
Can you explain
the title Va-Quarter Cutting?
We can write numbers in Tamizh. Ka stands for 1 and
Va stands for ¼ which goes with the tagline
of quarter cutting. .
Is
there a deliberate attempt to make cult films?
We just make films and if it becomes cult,
it is awesome. Actually it is not in our hands
that our films become cult, it rests with
the audience. We make films which we like
and we like watching such films.
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We make films which we like
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Would there
be an abundance of Madras slang in Va-QC?
In this film, our main character Sura, i.e. Shiva
speaks Kovai Tamizh. He is an outsider who comes in
to the city and experiences the city. We see the film
through his eyes. SPB Charan plays Marthandam, a veterinary
doctor from Chennai who speaks normal Tamizh. The
characters they meet during the night speak the local
Tamizh. It is a deliberate effort to bring out the
color, flavor and the language of Chennai. Many films
have come out based in Chennai which can be placed
in some other city also. However, there are not many
films which are about Chennai. Va-QC is only about
Chennai. We have brought out the nativity of Chennai
in our film.
Va-QC is a quirky comedy
adventure.
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What
genre is Va-QC?
Va-QC
is a quirky comedy adventure. |
Why
did you choose Shiva?
He
is a very funny guy; even if he says good morning,
it is funny. Shiva has an incredible sense of
comic timing. The normal phrases that we all
say will be very flat but when it comes from
Shiva, it will be extremely funny. His expressions
are blank and he is just perfect for the role
of Sura. Shiva is actually a very talented guy
not only in performance but also in his creative
ideas and not to forget his dancing! He has
also written the lyrics for one of the songs.
His contribution to the project is very good.
Shiva’s chemistry with Charan will be
the most important in the film. |
Shiva has an incredible sense of
comic timing
|
Did you write
the script of Va-QC keeping Shiva in mind?
No, we generally write the script and see who fits
into the roles. We went through many options and we
settled on Shiva and we are very happy about it.
On Lekha Washington?
Lekha is a ditsy school girl who has failed thrice
in her school exams and wants to end her life. There
is no love track and through the night, she is also
a part of the journey. From a very ditsy, low self-esteemed
girl, she slowly transforms, gets a little more confidence
and becomes normal.
About the rest
of your cast?
Apart from Lekha, Charan and Shiva, there are many
who play the supporting cast in the film. John Vijay
plays Prince, a gambling den owner and there is an
interesting twist to this. We don’t want to
reveal it now. We have given him an outdated look.
Then, there is choreographer Kalyan who has done a
role; Abhinayshree is a police officer; SS Music Craig
is an Anglo-Indian boy in the film. As it is a journey
through the night, they meet a bunch of characters.
There are many new faces. John’s henchmen are
called Vettu and Kuthu. In addition, there are two
mongrels who have acted in the film. It was hugely
difficult to cast these dogs as we did not want well
bred ones and were keen about street dogs. In fact,
the part involving the dogs was getting delayed and
we were able to complete it only towards the end of
the shoot. And at this point, we would like to mention
that Charan has an uncanny knack of getting friendly
with mongrels and he was not even chasing them properly.
GV has done some real funky
RR in Va-QC
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On
GV Prakash’s music?
Oh,
GV Prakash is awesome. We did our first film
Oram Po with him and share a fantastic rapport
with him. Not only his music, but his RR is
amazing. Ever since we met him for Oram Po,
our relationship has remained very good. Whenever
we have a new idea, he is one of the first guys
we discuss and we trust him a lot. It is always
good fun working with him. Usually the song
will be set in the first couple of tunes that
he comes up with. When we tell him what we want,
he will always come up with a tune the very
next day or the day after. It is very rare that
we have asked for more tunes. GV has done some
real funky RR in Va-QC. |
Was it your
idea to make GVP sing?
No. Last time around in Oram Po, his voice was too
young and we asked him to sing when he grows up. Now
his voice is matured and has a good base and he is
able to bring out variations in it. One interesting
aspect about his voice is it is very emotive. When
he is teaching the singers to sing, we found that
he was much better and that’s how he ended up
singing for Va-QC. The expressions come right for
him. With a combination, his voice sounds very good.
Lyricist Kumararaja?
He is a very good friend of ours and we went to Loyola
together. Kumararaja wrote the dialogues for Oram
Po and the theme song of the film. However, this time
around as he was busy with his film, he wrote the
lyrics of all the songs except for the one which Shiva
and Amarendran wrote.
Is it the Amarendran
of Bale Pandiya fame?
Yes. He is also a good friend and has also played
a small but important role in Va-QC.
About
cinematographer Nirav Shah?
Nirav
is the coolest guy to work with and he is a
workaholic. Va-QC shoot was a very painful one
as we had to shoot only during nights and everyone’s
biological clock was totally upset. Even in
the middle of the night, Nirav will be full
of energy going about with his work. He has
taken so much pain and care in every little
thing which can be perceived in the film. And
night shoot can become very tedious and slow
as you have to light up everything. But Nirav
managed it very well. I don’t think we
could have done what we have done now without
Nirav. Moreover, the number of hours we could
shoot was extremely minimal when we go for live
locations. We can start only around 12-12.30
but we have to wrap around 5 in the morning
as sunlight starts seeping in. Basically we
had five to five and a half hours of shoot everyday.
In that limited time frame, the amount of work
Nirav could accomplish was simply outstanding.
More than anything, it was fun to shoot with
Nirav as it was like a party. |
Nirav is the coolest guy to work
with
|
Where did you
shoot?
We shot the entire film in Chennai. Last time for
Oram Po, we at least went till Chengelpet. This time,
we did not even cross the border of the city.
Our relationship is very organic
|
How
do you handle the creative differences between
the two of you?
Actually,
there are no differences. You may have noticed
that even while we are talking for this interview,
we take turns. We know each other well and practically
grew up together. Our relationship is very organic.
There is no division of labor and we do all
the work in sync. If there is a difference of
opinion pertaining to any idea, we just throw
that idea aside and go to something else. This
comes into play while detailing and we deal
with it organically. |
What
is the USP of Va-QC?
Va-QC
is a romp through the night. There is a complaint
that Chennai has no night life and everything
wraps up around 10 PM unlike Mumbai and Delhi.
However, Chennai has a night life but it is
underground. There are lots of things that happen
at night which we want to show. The main USP
of Va-QC is its comic adventure. |
Va-QC is a romp through the
night
|
When is Va-QC’s
release?
We are still finishing the film after which our producer
Sashikanth and Cloud Nine will finalize on the release
date which will be very soon.
Contribution
of Cloud Nine?
It is a great boon that Cloud Nine came into this
project because we are assured of a very good release.
Cloud Nine has a standard and has been promoting a
bunch of different kind of films like Tamizh Padam.
The same combination of Sashikanth and Cloud Nine
are only involved in our film too. So we are looking
at doing things which are slightly off beat, render
a new color to Tamizh cinema. In that way, Cloud Nine
supporting our films is like pushing the film to the
next higher level. They just asked us to complete
the film and the rest will be taken care of by them.
We are extremely lucky that way.
On producer Sashikanth
Although we met Sashi on a professional manner, he
has become a good friend now. He is very passionate
about film making process. Sashi runs his life on
the basis of ‘Y not’
Is Raakozhi
still on?
It is still alive on one side. We might do it now
or it may get pushed. We are working on a couple of
ideas. Raakozhi is just the title which has also undergone
a lot of changes.
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