‘We let Jayaram and Urvashi be themselves’: Director Sudha Kongara

Sudha Kongara, Kalidas Jayaram and Kalyani Priyadarshan talk to us over a video call just as Puttham Pudhu Kaalai is all set to premiere on Amazon Prime in a few hours. “Our segment is titled Ilamai Idho Idho,” says Sudha with a smile. Apart from Kalidas and Kalyani, this film also features popular onscreen pair Jayaram and Urvashi as couples yet again. “Kali told me to just let them be and roll the camera so that we would get amazing footages from them,” opens up Sudha. “Yes, that is how it is always. I was excited by the idea of appa and Urvashi ma’am playing a couple again. They have played the lead pair in over 20 films and who would not like their combination in Panchathanthiram. It is still fresh in my memory,” says Kalidas. The teaser, however, was much spoken about for Kali and Kalyani’s pairing in Ilamai Idho. While most of us think that the youngsters have stayed in touch since childhood, Kalyani breaks the news. “Kalidas managed not to stay in touch since a birthday party when we were in Class 3. We met for this after so many years and caught up,” she smiles. “Even then it felt like we hadn’t lost touch. After so many years, talking to Kalyani felt so familiar,” says Kalidas.

With restrictions on the sets, Sudha says that she couldn’t shoot with both the couples at the same time. “We shot for Jayaram and Urvashi’s portions separately and then Kali and Kalyani’s portions. We had 

less than six people on the sets at the same time,” says Sudha. Adding to her point Kali says, “This is the first time that I share screen space with appa since my childhood but we didn’t have any combination scenes. However, observing him from a distance was a bliss.” Kalyani sums it up as a fun experience. “It was a perfect orchestration from Sudha. I still wonder how we were able to pull it off. I have never been to a film school ever. But this felt like one of them. I don’t know if this film will win an award but this will make people sit up and take notice of. I am sure audience will love it,” she concludes.