Proud of my commercial director tag: KS Ravikumar

KS Ravikumar, who was on a hiatus after the debacle of Lingaa, returns to the marquee with a bilingual titled Mudinja Ivana Pudi. It has Kannada superstar Sudeep in the lead and Nithya Menen as his romantic pair. With his 36 years of experience in Indian cinema, KSR touches on several topics including his take on Kabali in a freewheeling interview with DC.

“I don’t know if MIP will be my re-entry or Sudeep’s entry,” he starts his conversation with us. With Naan Ee’s lasting impact, Sudeep has a villainous image in K’town. In MIP, he is the hero. “To break his baddie image, I am showing him both as a good and bad guy in the film.”

We ask him if he feels the pinch when social media critics trash a film, and he says, “Not really! Right from the beginning of my career, I kept audiences in mind even during the scripting stage. I incorporate the ideas of my assistants as well. In those days magazines were the source of reviews, now it is immediate.”
Responding to a query about why he is not getting into experimental cinema, he says, “For me, cinema is business and it is very important that my producer makes profit out of my movies. I know I am not a Bharathiraja or K.Balachander or Sridhar,” he vouches.

Why does this title sound like a dubbed film, we ask, and pat comes his reply — “Do you think so? Mudinja Ivana Pudi is a colloquial Tamil word that children often use in games. It was lyricist Madhan Karky who wrote the intro song and had this line. I felt it was very catchy.”

When we ask him about the idea of sequels, Ravikumar says, “We had plans of making  a sequel to Panchathanthiram. It was Kamal Haasan who initiated talks. He even told me a line for part two. He tweaked the script where the ladies would return and take revenge on the husbands.”

About Sudeep, he says, “More than a fine actor, he is a fine gentleman and a great human being. But, he is short tempered and so am I.” (laughs)
The Padayappa director opines that Kabali was not a Rajini film. “I watched the movie and spoke to Rajini sir. I told him that  Kabali was neither a Rajini nor Ranjith film. When I told him that the movie is a good don film and he has performed very well, he laughed in his inimitable way,” Ravikumar reminisces.
KSR asserts that he is now choosy when it comes to his acting ventures. “After the Dhanush-starrer Thanga Magan, I am choosy. I have a cameo in Sivakarthikeyan’s Remo and a nice character in Vijay Sethupathi’s Rekka. Talks are on for a movie with Vishal and Lawrence,” he signs off with a smile.