‘Parking issues always trigger an individual’s ego’

CHENNAI: There were jokes and laughter all around the premise when Harish Kalyan, along with his co-star Indhuja and director Ramkumar walked into our office to talk about Parking. The trailer of the film has garnered five million views with positive responses predominantly. “I landed the script through the producer of this film, Sinish. When I listened to this script, it just took me 15 minutes to see myself in the world that Ramkumar had created. Be it my character Eshwar or MS Bhaskar’s character Ilamparuthi, it intrigued me. What immediately struck me was that the story is relatable because parking is something we do every day. After the narration, I read the bound script and liked the clarity that Ramkumar has,” says actor Harish Kalyan.

While several issues have been haunting our society, the debutant director feels that parking issues trigger the ego of an individual, and has been a common trouble everywhere. “A film should connect with the audience and let them share the message to their friends and family. Yes, there have been a lot of issues we face on a daily basis. But people with a car would have gone through this at least once in their lifetime and for some reasons it triggers the owner’s ego and brings the grey shade of a person to light. In this film, we have discussed how one such incident changes a person’s life altogether,” says the filmmaker before heaping praises on his actors. “Harish has an image of a boy-next-door and Indhuja has played her role perfectly well, which is that of an assistant professor. A versatile actor like MS Bhaskar sir can easily pull off anything. It is a blessing to have such actors on board.”

Parking will be Indhuja’s fourth release in three years. Having found success with her roles in Meyaadha Maan, Magamuni, Bigil and Naane Varuvean, the actress opens up saying that Parking has the potential to be spoken-about by the audience post its release. “It will be a discussion point among the audience and several families. That was my instinct when I was offered the film. The movie has also given me the maturity that I need at this point in time of my career. I could say that Parking has been a happy spot for me,” she says. The actor says that she has been taking it slow and wasn’t a conscious decision on her part. “I went through a few things personally during the lockdown and I felt that it wouldn’t be right for me to do a lot of movies at the time. When Parking came up, I felt that this is the time for me to do the right film and set up a proper base for my career,” she adds.

Harish and Ramkumar are seen smiling at each other and when we ask the reason, Ramkumar says, “On the sets, Indhuja had dozens of doubts and wouldn’t shy away from asking, which is a good quality too.” Harish gets into friendly banter and says that he could take it anymore at a point in time. “She maintained a diary in which she had all her doubts marked in it,” he laughs. “Hello, that was my new diary and I had to make use of it,” says Indhuja with a smile. “The film has interesting characters with backstories and I am glad that my actors knew others’ lines as well to make sure that we give the audience a good product today,” concludes Ramkumar as they begin posing for our photographer.