CIFF 2024 | Negative roles allow big stars to go all out with performances, says director Venkat Prabhu

CHENNAI: Whenever Venkat Prabhu holds the mic, his sharp wit engages the audience, and his masterclass at CIFF 2024 was no different. He began by sarcastically thanking the audience for their confidence in making time for his session. On the fifth day of the festival, Venkat Prabhu expressed regret over not submitting Chennai 600028 to any film festivals. “The film is considered a cult classic even today, but when we made it, we assumed festivals wouldn’t screen films heavy on entertainment,” he remarked.

His humour was on full display when asked about the early stages of his acting career. “People are fortunate to have escaped my acting phase,” he joked. “Initially, my family wanted me to become an actor, but unfortunately, I didn’t get enough opportunities.”

His love for cinema deepened during his time in the United Kingdom, where he worked part-time at a theatre to watch films for free. This exposure to world cinema significantly influenced his writing process. “I always try to experiment with new genres. Stories are limited, but what matters is how engagingly they are presented. Even Mankatha and Maanaadu were criticised for being copied from Hollywood, but I only borrowed the genres and gave them a localised structure,” he explained.

Talking about his debut film, he shared, “Initially, we planned a different story, but it required a bigger budget, so we scrapped it. That’s when we came up with Chennai 600028, a minimal-budget film based on friendship and cricket.”

He also admitted that, at that time, he wasn’t confident in directing the film. “We considered having Samuthirakani direct it, but since he wasn’t into cricket, we decided to take it on ourselves, almost like a school project.”

When Chennai 600028 was previewed before release, the distributors were hesitant to back it. “The film didn’t follow the usual Tamil cinema format of having a single protagonist. Everyone had equal importance, which made them sceptical. But we believed it would resonate with youngsters,” he said.

No conversation with Venkat Prabhu is complete without discussing Mankatha. Speaking about how the film came together, he shared, “Ajith Kumar sir is very close to me. We acted in a film together, and after Chennai 600028, we discussed working on a project, but things didn’t fall into place. Years later, he asked if I had a story with a negative-shaded character. That’s when I reworked my heist film idea into Mankatha.” He added that Ajith’s 50th film was initially supposed to be directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, which led to fan disappointment when Venkat Prabhu came on board. “That added to the pressure, but we stayed faithful to the script and didn’t compromise on what we envisioned.”

When asked if he wrote Vijay’s negative character in The Greatest of All Time because of Mankatha’s success, he clarified, “Not at all. I had the idea of a father-versus-son story, and when I pitched it to Vijay sir, he was impressed.” He also added, “Negative roles for big stars provide the freedom to go all out, enabling them to explore new and uncharted dimensions.” Venkat Prabhu also highlighted the lack of professional writers in Tamil cinema. “The problem arises because directors are often expected to pitch their scripts to production houses for the opportunity. However, this is slowly changing, and more writers are emerging,” he concluded.