Aruvi will create a lasting impact in the minds of people: Arun Prabu

The teaser and trailer of the film Aruvi where a Hindu Goddess holding an AK47 in her hand released recently has created a huge stir and curiosity among the Tamil audiences. This film which has won critical acclaim at several international film festivals has a contemporary subject and will raise questions in the minds of people, according to director Arun Prabu, a former assistant to popular directors Balu Mahendra and KS Ravikumar.

“You can’t classify Aruvi in a particular genre. It’s a socio-political adventure where Aditi Balan plays the titular role Aruvi and the film chronicles the incidents in her life. It’s about the social anguish from her perspective. One can say that it is the reflection of youth all over the globe. Though, people can relate it to the present-day happenings, the movie imparts a larger message for the humanity,” Arun starts his conversation.

Stating that the story is not something that happened in his life and only the stories he has heard people experiencing, he adds, “We premiered it at the Shanghai International Festival last year. Although it had Chinese subtitles, I was very apprehensive as to how  people would accept it. Much to my delight, they gave standing ovation and were discussing and debating about the film for about an hour. I was relieved that crossing the language barriers the film had reached good heights.”

On choosing new girl Aditi as the central character, he said, “When we started the project, the producer and I approached two big stars whom we felt were apt. While one of them was not sure about how people would accept her as she was doing commercial projects then, the other doubted if it would be possible for her carry such a heavy subject. Then we decided to go for a new girl. We auditioned about 500 girls and finally chose Aditi. Of course, we conducted workshops and trained her for the character. For that matter, except actress Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, most of the cast was raw and given training.”

Producer SR Prabhu on his part says, “It is a special film from among my productions. When Arun came to me few years back with the script, the content was very raw and shocking, which reflected his anger on the society. We had to sit and tone it down so that we would not have any problems with Censors. But, once the film was done, we never had any problems. They asked us to mute in certain places and finally gave us U/A.”

He also admitted that though he was stern in producing Aruvi, he could make it only at a very small budget. “All said and done, grandeur is not about lavish and rich sets or travelling abroad for shoots, but it is also about the kind of impact a film creates and the queries it raises in the people’s minds once they watch it. And Aruvi falls under second category.”