Saturday Jun 09 2007, Chennai

Venkat Prabhu: Maiden venture ‘Chennai 600028’

Venkat Prabhu, the latest surprise of Kollywood is in upbeat mood.His maiden venture ‘Chennai 600028’ featuring many newcomers has become a big success.Venkat Prabhu, son of Gangai Amaran showers praise on his friend cum producer SPB Charan, son of SP Balasubrmaniam when he talks about the film.

Excerpts from the interview with the young director:

How did you get the courage to make a film with all new faces?

The credit goes to the producer SPB Charan.He was the person who gave me the courage to do what I wanted to do.The story is very simple.

How did you choose it?

When he asked me to develop a story I told him that I wanted to develop a story based on my cricket life.He said ok.Then I wrote a fictitious story based on my experiences with local cricket.Charan was very impressed with the story and agreed to produce the film.

We decided that the story did not require any star and hence we opted for many new faces.Did you predict this much of success?
No.But I was confidant that the film would be received well.I always believe that if you make a film with full of fun, t will be a hit irrespective of the cast.Since this film has a lot of fun I was confidant that this would be a hit.

But I must admit that we didn’t expect this much of success.The timing of the release was not ideal.It was the time when Team India was ousted from the World Cup in the first round.

Did this bother you?

Very much.We were scared.But since the release date was already announced we couldn’t do anything.We were sure that the movie would be a big flop as fallout of the World Cup debacle.When we went to the theater to see the first show, we expected that the people would be agitated to see a movie based on cricket.We had a sigh of relief when people went crazy over seeing ‘Sachin’ on screen.

How far the movie is based on your true life?

Not much.I have been playing cricket right from the childhood.I took the passion for the game as the theme and developed the story.Only a few scenes are from the real life.Others are purely imaginative.The film is filled with fun but there are certain scenes and characters that are not required at all.

For example the elder brother cum dada character.Yah.It is not an important character in the film.We have used it as a supportive character.The film has an erotic song.

Is it to woo the viewers with skin show?

Not at all.You can’t say that the song is vulgar.Even the bedroom scene is portrayed aesthetically.You could feel it if you keenly observe the lighting and the shot selection. Manirathnam has made a song in his Agni Natchathiram aesthetically depicting the intimacy between the lovers.

I tried to make a similar song.There are two lead female characters in the movie.One is portrayed as conservative and another as ultra modern.You have shown the ultra modern girl going on dating and having sex with her boyfriend.

Do you want to suggest that ultra modern girls are quite liberal when it comes to sex?

My goodness! This thought had never come to me.We wanted to show that they intimately love each other and nothing else.Please don’t generalize it.It was reported in a magazine that you had said that you made a film with a playful approach and succeeded.

Can cinema be approached playfully?

It is not a serious matter?It is a serious matter indeed.No doubt about it.I did not mean what had appeared in the magazine.How can you take filmmaking casually when such huge money is involved? What I meant was we approached the whole process with enthusiasm and total involvement.I want to make the viewers happy and we worked hard for that.

How could you make a film without prior experience?

It was possible because of my friend Charan.He was the one who kept on telling me to develop a story.It was his encouragement that made me write a story for the movie.Though Mazhai and Unnai Caranatainthen, Charan’s previous productions, met with failure, he was dare enough to take risk with a newcomer like me.I feel proud to tell that without his motivation I would not have attained success.

What about your next film?

Somebody has approached to make Chennai 6000028 in Hindi and the discussions are going on.Some big stars in Tamil have approached me to do a film for them.I have to develop a story.I am yet to think about it.