‘Eager to know if my ideas are still relevant’

Dressed in a maroon tshirt and jeans, award-winning director Bharathiraja, now sporting a French beard, was to meet us in his office at the heart of the city. However, he spontaneously decides to get into the car and says, “Let’s do this. Take a U-turn under the Gemini flyover and drive towards Teynampet while we talk about the film.” His next film Meendum Oru Mariyaadhai produced under his home banner Manoj Creations is all set to hit the screens on February 21. Tell him the title reminds us of his National-award winning film Muthal Mariyaadhai that had Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role, he smiles. “We started off the film with another title but I believed that Meendum Oru Mariyaadhai will be apt for the script. The story deals with the journey of a person from his house to an old age home. During that journey he meets a young girl who has suicidal thoughts and he counsels her. The topic is relevant and with this film I would also know if my ideas resonate with the audience.” As we move at snail’s pace, he says, “Madras traffic! Indha oor la car otita ulagathula enga venaalum otidalaam da (If you successfully deal with the city’s traffic, you can drive a car anywhere in the world).

Coming back to the film, the six-time National award-winning director says that the film will leave the audience thinking. “Nowadays people get depressed and commit suicide for petty things that could have been easily avoided. No one should end their life, it is a crime. In Meendum Oru Mariyaadhai, I play the lead role of a writer named Ki Rajanarayanan, who leaves for London from Madurai. Whether or not he convinces her against commiting suicide forms the crux of the story,” he reveals. Bharathiraja’s Mudhal Mariyaadhai spoke about a married man’s friendship with a girl in his village. “But Meendum Oru Mariyaadhai isn’t about their love story. This is on the lines of soulmates and companionship between the writer and the young girl. The character I play is purely fictional,”he clarifies.

The film has its dialogues by Madhan Karky and lyrics by Vairamuthu and Kabilan Vairamuthu. “Vairamuthu has penned a crucial song in the film. Also, Madhan Karky’s dialgoues were impressive. When I am an actor in front of the camera, I shed the image of Bharathiraja the director and do what the film requires,” he smiles. He will also act in Venkat Prabhu’s Maanadu. “I also have Rocky and a GV Prakash film in the pipeline. There is Kuttra Parambarai web series as well,” the veteran tells us. The web series has courted controversies after Vela Ramamoorthy claimed that Kuttraparambarai belongs to him and wouldn’t give Bharathiraja the rights to direct it. “I will direct it this year. I had discussed the story several years ago and Vela Ramamoorthy penned it for a magazine and titled it Kuttraparambarai. He could have named it Kairegai Sattam or something else,” he says.

Bharathiraja is disappointed with plagiarism issues that are haunting Tamil cinema of late. “Those days, people had professional ethics. No assistant directors would discuss the film’s story with anyone else in the industry. The scenario is different now and good stories are being discussed everywhere which leads to plagiarism. If giving credit in the title card is the solution, let it be,” he concludes as we reach his film school.