As Radha Mohan’s upcoming film, Brindavanam, is gearing up for release, we speak to the director about the film, which has Arulnithi, Vivekh and Tanya Ravichandran playing the lead roles.
“Brindavanam traces the story of a deaf and mute barber in Ooty, who is a big fan of actor Vivekh. So, one day, when he meets his idol, they get into bond emotionally, and the actor who has come for his own business to the place goes out of his way to help him. It is a soulful drama with a humorous tone to it,” starts Radha Mohan.
For the second time, the Payanam director has chosen a protagonist, who is deaf and mute, but he says Brindavanam has nothing to do with Mozhi — “There is no similarity between both these films, except the deaf and mute protagonist. Even the premise of the new film is entirely different. There, Jyothika was portrayed as an urban, well-educated woman, but here, the hero is a small town rural orphan, who has gone through a lot of struggle in his life. They are two different films entirely.”
Speaking about Vivekh who acts as himself in the film, the director says, “It was beautiful working with him. People have seen him as a comedy artiste, but for the first time, they will see him as a performer. His role will move the audience to tears. It will be a surprise package for the audience. There will be personal references to his life as well.”
About Tanya and Arulnithi, he reveals, “Technically, this is Tanya’s first film, and I didn’t want to put her in front of the camera straight away. So, she would come to the office to rehearse the scenes prior to the start of the shooting. Arul also has put in a lot of effort to perfect the role. He learnt sign language for the film. He has done a lot of serious roles before and here he is playing a light character
who will make you laugh.”
After seeing the trailer, there is a consensus that Arul’s role has shades of Hindi film Barfi. Radha Mohan says there are no such inspirations or similarities. “No way! There is nothing to that claim. People keep saying this but let the film come out and it will prove that Brindavanam has no relevance to any films whatsoever.”
