‘I needed real-life farmers to convey my story, not reel-life stars’

Director-writer Manikandan parks his retro superbike outside Vijay Sethupathi’s office before walking in for the interview. “I’m an avid biker. I have traversed across Tamilnadu in my bike-- even when I go for recce I wear my jacket and cruise on the highway. Bikes are handy in the city as well,” he says before setting down. Manikandan is all set to present his fourth directorial titled Kadaisi Vivasaayi that is produced by Vijay Sethupathi. The movie has Nallandi playing the lead role. “He is a real-life farmer and there are other farmers from my hometown Usilampatti playing the lead role,” Manikandan opens up. 

The reason behind having them in lead roles according to Mani is, “It is simple because I want to portray the life of real farmers, what they go through. The story revolves around them and the ethics of farming. We would be able to get a sneak peek into their life only when we go to remote villages that are not accessible. In olden days a farmer, who owned lands were landlords. Today, the situation is such that they are daily wages, who struggle. Isn’t it sad? Kadaisi Vivaasayi talks about one such farmer, who was wrongly convicted in a case and the consequences surrounding the incident. It is the story that decides who will play the lead. Some stories require stars to take it to the people while some needs real characters. This is a story that has to be presented with real people. Though Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu will be seen throughout the film, the focus will be on those farmers and the village.”

Manikandan clarifies that the actors did not take up any acting workshop prior to the shoot. “I went in search of them so it would have been unfair of me in asking them to attend workshops. We started rolling the camera whenever they were in the zone and recorded the dialogues with live sync sound. They wouldn’t have been interested in dubbing as well. The beauty of the live sync sound is that it takes you closer to the surrounding and the environment. We went across the village and recorded different sounds so that it gets synced with the movie’s ambience. The live sync sound budget of Kadaisi Vivasaayi worked out as much as the entire budget of my first film Kaaka Muttai. It was possible only because Vijay Sethupathi and I were on the same page. I don’t think another producer would have agreed to do this,” he adds.

Manikandan says that Kadaisi Vivasaayi will make people across the world take note of India’s farmers. “Anyone, who sows seeds and feeds people is a farmer. I am not talking about those who do it as a hobby. I am talking about the ones getting into the field and putting their heart and soul into it to feed others, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. The film will talk about them and the world will know what they require and what their plight is,” he concludes.