Wanted to portray increasing intolerance, religious divide in TN: Vetrimaaran

Chennai

Vetrimaaran’s Oor Iravu in Netflix anthology Paava Kadhaigal discusses a patriarchal society and honour killing due to societal pressures and biases. “I took this as an opportunity to move away from the clichéd love stories by presenting a hard-hitting narrative. That is what has resulted in Oor Iravu. I wanted to let people know that Tamil Nadu has gone backward in terms of societal tolerance. There is a great secular divide of late. It has increased and is now evident. I would rather term it ‘increasingly evident’. It is impactful, and at the same time I didn’t want it to be preachy. I am glad Netflix gave me this opportunity,” the director begins. Having said that, Vetrimaaran agrees that the OTT platform is the medium for such content.

“Leave alone the CBFC. I have always said that post the advent of COVID 19 and the lockdown, the theatrical experience for the audience will go through a drastic change. There will be superhero films or movies that are visually appealing mostly with middle-aged protagonists and stars which will release in theatres. Then there is OTT in which writers and filmmakers are the stars who will look for performers based on the production and budgeting. This is how it will be for the next few years,” he explains.

Sai Pallavi plays a pregnant woman in Oor Iravu, a segment in which Prakash Raj plays her father. Having portrayed the character flawlessly, the actress says, “Being a doctor, I have seen how pregnant women behave. The way they walk and sit are totally different. Vetrimaaran sir explained to me on how he wanted the body language of my character to be. Moreover, this is not your regular movie unit. I was actually intimidated by the presence of Prakash Raj sir, who is a brilliant performer. Also, Vetrimaaran sir chose not to compromise on the prosthetics and made the pregnancy look as original as it could be. It was indeed challenging. At a point in time, I couldn’t breathe and called my mum to ask if this is what pregnant women go through. She asked me to wait until I bear a child.”

On having Prakash Raj on board for the film, Vetrimaaran heaps praises on the actor and says, “We have worked together in Asuran. I have seen him transforming from one extreme to another within a few seconds. Also, I believed that Prakash Raj and Sai Pallavi would complement each other well on screen. I wanted a girl who could play a vulnerable character. I watched Premam when I was shooting for Asuran. I wanted Sai Pallavi for a role in Asuran but she didn’t want to be a part of it because she felt there wasn’t a lot to offer. However, she agreed to do Oor Iravu,” he reveals. The anthology has segments directed by Sudha Kongara, Gautham Menon, and Vignesh Shivan as well. Vetrimaaran rules out a connection between these stories and concludes, “I cannot give away the spoiler. One thing I can say is that all of us sat together and have discussed the story initially with Gautham. So there are chances of some subtle connection.”