“Initially, we started working on an idea. After few months, we ditched that idea and embarked on another one. It was bound to change because we were brainstorming throughout. After few months, we decided we’ll work on a story that eventually became Uttama Villain. It’s extremely different from Vishwaroopam, and it has a lot of emotional content. The best part about the script is that it has a very profound message which attracted me to it,” reveals Ramesh Aravind.
On directing the triumvirate of Kamal Haasan, K. Balachander and K. Vishwanath Ramesh Aravind considers himself lucky to direct this triumvirate of Kamal Haasan, K. Balachander and K. Vishwanath in one film.
“It was Kamal sir’s idea to cast KB sir and Vishwanath sir. I’m a huge fan of all three of them and to have them work in the same film was a fantastic idea,” he says. In Uttama Villain, K. Balachander essays the role of a mentor to Kamal Haasan, who plays an ageing cine star in the film’s 21st century portions. ”Kamal sir was very keen that we should only cast Balachander for the role because he felt only he could naturally fit in it and do justice to it. When you watch the film, you realize nobody else pic 7 copycould do the role besides KB sir. Had we cast someone else, then we would have had to include a few more scenes to establish the master-disciple relationship. We wanted to avoid all that because there certain advantages and liberty when you cast certain people,” justifies Ramesh the idea behind casting K. Balachander.
Ramesh never felt sort of pressure directing his mentor, thanks to his good relationship with Iyakunar Sigaram. “I thoroughly enjoyed directing because I had nothing else to worry about. I had a very supportive crew and since KB sir was required to be himself on screen, there was hardly any work involved in directing. I would happily sit back in my chair when a shot was over and start afresh when it was time to shoot a new scene. Moreover, since I was working with seasoned actors, there was absolutely no need to tell them what to do and what not. With KB sir, it’s always a pleasure to work because there’s so much you can still learn from him,” says Ramesh.
Theyyam – A thousand year old traditional art form
A little googling will tell you that Kamal Haasan plays an 8th century drama actor in Uttama Villain – as one of the roles – who practices Theyyam, a traditional art form originated in Kerala thousand years back. “It was once again Kamal’s idea to dabble with the traditional art form. When he initially showed me how he would use it in the story, I was totally zapped,“ Ramesh tells us. He also brushes aside reports that they have copied the art form. ”I want to set the record straight because we’ve only been inspired by it and have used it with certain creative liberties. Initially, when Kamal sir had suggested Theyyam, we all sat down and learnt about it individually and then collectively brainstormed about how we could use it in our story. Finally, when we zeroed in on an idea we had developed based on the traditional art form, we decided to include it in the film.”
As we plan to conclude the interview, we ask Ramesh the most important question,
“When can we expect Uttama Villain to come out”.
With a loud laugh, he says “There’s lot of VFX work in the film. We are currently working on it. I’m hoping it should be out in about ten weeks from now”.
Once Uttama Villain was wrapped up, Ramesh Aravind sent a text message to his crew, and it read: “Thanks guys for working on the film. We’ve made a film we can all be proud of and I’m confident about it”.
Originally Posted by dell_gt
?? More keen to know which project he is planning to do after Papanasam...
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