Ace director A. Venkatesh, who is known for commercial cocktails laced with comedy, is for the first time, trying his hand at an action thriller. Titled Nethra, the film has Vinay and Subiksha playing the leads, and is shot in Canada for the most part. He also turns producer with this film, and is making it along with Pararajasingam.
We caught up with Venkatesh who was shooting in the city for a crucial scene in the film. “I felt it’s high time. I wanted to change my image of making only commercial films. The late Manivannan sir, who apart from directing family dramas was also successful in the thriller genre, has inspired me.
This script had been lingering on my mind for the last two years,” Venkatesh opens up. Why Canada, we ask. “The story is about a girl who goes from Tamil Nadu to a foreign land and gets entangled in a dilemma. How she comes out of it with the help of two men who live in the country, played by Vinay and Thaman, forms the rest of the story. When I went on a location hunt, I felt Canada was an apt place and one that has not been touched by Tamil filmmakers, barring a few.”
Interestingly, his co-producer belongs to Canada, something that has made his shooting permissions easy to obtain. While Vinay essays a multimillionaire businessperson, Thaman plays an employee in a hotel.
Actor Vishal’s dad GK Reddy has been roped in to portray a crucial role in Nethra. “GK Reddy sir was my the producer of my first film Mahaprabhu. I saw him at the recent Star Cricket show and was fascinated by his looks. He plays the role of a godfather to the heroine’s family.” The music will be composed by Srikanth Deva.
