‘An adult film necessarily need not be vulgar’

The team of Murungaikkai Chips is one of the fun teams one could ever host. Jokes are being cracked and we see some friendly banter too between Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Athulya Ravi, and Srijar. The trailer and sneak-peek of the film drew the attention of the young audience upon their release a few weeks ago.

The film has been certified A by the Censor Board. “Murungaikkai Chips’ storyline revolves around a married couple—strangers to each other. While Shanthnu wishes to remain a celibate, Athulya thinks otherwise. However, it is not portrayed in a vulgar manner. When the film was screened for the CBFC panel, they asked our producer Ravindran of Libra Productions to take an ‘A’ certificate for it he agreed. Our audience has been made to believe that all ‘A’ certified films are vulgar, which is not the case with our film,” director Srijar begins. Shanthnu joins the conversation and says that the film is a light-hearted entertainer. “There are other films that have been released with Murungaikkai Chips and they may have a message in it. But ours is a fun film that doesn’t preach anything. If you want to have a hearty laugh for a couple of hours, then this film will be a perfect watch. I had no apprehensions about doing an adult film because this will be something different in my lineup,” says the actor.

Athulya though had a few doubts initially, she tells us that she was confident about director Srijar’s vision. “I wasn’t quite sure when Srijar narrated the story to me for the first time. It took me a while to realize that Srijar would execute what he set out for and he has been honest about it,” says the actress.

Murungaikkai Chips has veteran actors Bhagyaraj and Urvashi, one of Tamil cinema’s best on-screen couples in important roles. “When I finished writing the story, I could see that it had some resemblances with Bhagyaraj sir’s Mundhaanai Mudichu, which is popular for the Murungaikkai scene. The title too was suitable for the story and went on to name the film Murungaikkai Chips. I also went on to narrate the story to Bhagyaraj sir, who would play Shanthnu’s grandfather in the movie. He was excited about the idea and agreed to be a part of it,” says Srijar. Shanthnu opens up on the experience that his dad brought to the sets of the film. “Appa and I haven’t shared screen space since Vettiya Madichu Kattu and we thought this film could be perfect for us to collaborate. When I shot with him for the scenes, I could see his eye for continuity and how it has enhanced the film,” he says. “99 percent of my scenes are with Shanthnu but it was fun when Bhagyaraj sir and Urvashi ma’am were present on the sets. Their energy levels are amazing and there is a lot one could learn by working with them,” adds Athulya.

Such fun stories will certainly have their own fun moments on the sets. The team laughs when they were asked about it. “I know which scene you would talk about,” Athulya tells Srijar. “Yes. There is a scene in which Shanthnu had to kiss Athulya. We had to shoot it 18 times to get the right chemistry. And you know how it happened? We told Shanthnu that Kiki is on her way to the sets and he immediately gave us the right take,” Srijar discloses while we could see Shanthnu blushing.