The good side of North Madras

There’s a notion in Kollywood that telly actresses can be cast only in supporting roles. But Rathna Kumar, popular short filmmaker, broke the myth and chose TV actress Priya Bhavani Sankar, for his upcoming flick Meyaadha Maan as the heroine. Vaibhav Reddy plays the male lead.

“MM is based on my short film Madhu which was earlier released through Karthik Subbaraj’s Bench Talkies initiative. Owing to its commercial nature, Karthik asked if it could be made as a feature film,” Rathna Kumar says.

Kumar reveals that his film projects the good side of North Chennai residents. “When I saw people of Royapuram and Kasi Medu area, I found many creative people, who are good at singing, lyric writing, tabla, dolak etc. In the film, Vaibhav, who has finished college, runs a light music troupe. He is shy to talk to girls, but confesses his love openly. That’s why he is called Idhayam Murali, named after late hero Murali!”

Choosing Priya was accidental, he states. “Initially we wanted to cast Sai Pallavi, but her dates were not available. So we had announced for a casting call on social media when we got a response from Priya Bhavani Sankar. We called her for audition and she fitted the role of Madhu to a tee!”

There are seven songs composed by Santhosh Narayanan and Pradeep Kumar. The Thangachi number, which was released recently, was a big hit.