Manithan will be an important film in my career: Udhayanidhi Stalin

Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was hitherto seen playing to his strength as a rom-com hero, is attempting a serious character in his upcoming flick Manithan, which is a remake of Bollywood award-winning movie Jolly LLB. Udhay tells DC that he had to work hard for this Ahmed-directed court room drama, which had loads of lengthy dialogue. “My first three movies were comedy, so I wanted to try out something fresh. My last film Gethu had a different dimension. Manithan is a new effort for me,” he smiles.

Speaking about his character he says, “I play an innocent lawyer called Shakti from Pollachi. Circumstances force him to go to Chennai where he wants to make it big as an advocate, like Adhiseshan essayed by Prakash Raj. Though it is a remake, Ahmed has regionalised it for Tamil to suit the local flavour.” Quiz him if he was also smitten by the Rajinikanth title, and he replies, “Not really! We even thought of giving my character’s name ‘Shakti’ to the film. But Vivekh sir with whom I am teaming up for the first time, suggested that Manithan is an apt title. We took proper permission from the original producer AVM Balasubramaniam.”

Apparently, the movie has long-winded dialogue that initially intimidated Udhay. “The court arguments are lengthy ones and Ahmed gave me several pages of dialogue. I used to mug it like a school student and rehearse once and go for the take. I got so engrossed that the lines were haunting me during my sleep everyday (smiles). And imagine all my scenes are combinations with veterans Prakash Raj and Radha Ravi sir. I even told Prakash Raj sir once in a lighter vein, ‘Sir, when you are there, I am not visible at all!’. Anyways, I just did what my director told me to do.”

On his co-star Hansika with whom he is teaming up for the second time, he says, “She is my murai-ponnu in the film. This is a significant movie not only for me, but also for Hansika who has been given a new avatar.” Having tweaked the script a bit, Ahmed has introduced the new character of an investigative journalist in the film. “Aishwarya Rajesh plays the role and appears throughout the flick to help in my investigations. She has a vital role to enact,” says Udhay.
Director Ahmed adds that they showed the original to a retired Supreme Court lawyer and asked his opinion before embarking on the film — “We were very particular that it should not land up in any controversy and hurt lawyers. Only after ensuring that it wouldn’t, we started filming Manithan. One of my assistants is also a lawyer.”

Though the film has got a clean ‘U’ Certification from the censors, Udhay feels that he may not be given tax exemption from the government, like in his earlier films. “We have applied for tax exemption. If we don’t get through, I am planning to go to court for justice,” he says. With elections around the corner, we hear that he is campaigning for the political party you belong to. “It is not true! I am not campaigning for my party, but, yes, I do discuss a lot of politics with dad and help in creative suggestions,” Udhay signs off.