I experience closeness to my art when I make children's films

Director Pandiraj says that he editing it.Now, the film is complete except for two songs and some dubbing work.He began work on his children's film Haiku, which is in its final stage of shoot. Next month, he will start work on the action thriller that he is going to be directing with Vishal in the lead. The National Award-winner talks to Chennai Times on Haiku, why he makes children's films, the challenges in directing kids and more...
You are returning to the genre of children's films.How do you feel?
I like doing children's films. I experi ence closeness to my art when I make such films.When you have do commercial cinema, there is an element of calculation that creeps into your thought process and you start thinking in terms of box office. But that doesn't happen here.
What's the significance behind the title Haiku?
Haiku is a short form of poetry. Kids are like poetry. Haiku is told in three lines. The film is about three kids.The film is based on a haiku: Ulagilaeye sirandha vagupparai thaayin karuvarai (the best classroom in the world is a mother's womb). So, we used this as a title.
What's the knot of the film and what made you want to do it?
This is a story that I have been thinking about for the past three years. The film is about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children.Before getting down to writing the script,I spent time getting to know what ADHD is , talking to doctors, observing kids with ADHD, meeting their parents and so on. The main inspiration was a friend's son, who I was told started dancing every time he heard the sound of a tappu, and he wouldn't sit in a place for even a few minutes. That's when I was told that he had ADHD. I realized that there was a film waiting to be made on this -a thuru thuru kid who is restless and hyper active and his settais, and how his parents and teach ers handle him.
Isn't there a risk that par ents who watch the film might wrongly surmise their kid has ADHD because they are very active?
Yes, ADHD is not a disabil ity like autism or even dyslexia and in fact, I real ized early on that there is a chance that some parents might misinter pret the super active actions of their kids as a sign of ADHD. In fact, some of the doctors I spoke to told me that many parents bring their active kids to them thinking they have ADHD, while many ADHD kids are not given the attention the problem needs because parents think they are super active.
My son is very active and keeps doing some thing or the other even when we want him to stay calm, and this even prompted me to think that I should check if this might be ADHD.
So, I have ensured that such doubts don't hap pen here.
Do you think the pres ence of bigger actors like Suriya and Amala Paul might make it seem like a star film instead of a children's film?
Not at all. Even though there are actors like Suriya, Amala Paul, Bindu Madhavi and Karthik the protago nists of the film are the three kids -Kavin, Nayana and Abhiman.
In fact, it is the kids' names that will appear first in the title sequence as well. The actors have taken the role of character artists in the film. This is a film that will make you laugh, very much like Pasanga.
Do you have to follow a different approach to directing these actors when they are perform ing with kids?
I called the actors and told them what shots I'm going to take, and I also clearly told them that I'd shoot only when the kids are in the mood.
Even Suriya was very accommodating. I made him wait if I thought the kids were in their groove and shooting their scenes would be easier at that moment. He understood what I was trying to do. He rarely works on Sundays, and even makes it a point to make sure that people who work for him also get the day off.
But we broke that practice and had him come and shoot on Sundays, because that is when the kids are free.
Is directing kids more chal lenging?
What's difficult more than making a children's film is finding the right kids to cast in the roles. My biggest advantage was that I had made Pasanga. I got respect at every school that I visit ed to select the kids. Here, I had to look for a kid who was very active and could make us believe he had ADHD. I spent close to eight months searching for the right kid. I met close to 150 kids for the main roles.
Pasanga had 10-11 year-old kids but here, I needed kids who were even younger 7-8 years and even a kid who is just two years old.
Making these kids act was a challenge. Some of them would question why they had to act in one particular way. Some would come and tell me they do not like what I want them to do, like `I don't like dancing, why do you want me to dance?' Parents too had their hesi tations -can we trust cine ma people, will the lights harm the kid and so on. In fact, in some cases, we had to use the actual parents of the kids to make sure that the kid acts in a natural way.
But given that you have made Pasanga, wasn't shooting this easier?
Oh, no. Pasanga was moments taken from my life. It had a village set-up, something that I had lived in and was very familiar with. But this film is about city kids and I had to know how kids in the city behave, how they talk, how they dress and so on It's quite interesting that every film of yours has a different music director. Is this a conscious decision?
This is something that hap pens without any planning -by sheer accident. I was keen on working again with Yuvan after Kedi Billa And Killadi Ranga in Idhu Namma Aalu. I had even narrated the script to him but it didn't happen.
Probably, I will work with everyone once and then start going back to people I have worked with earlier.
So, who is the composer of this film?
We have roped in Arrol Corelli, Pisasu's music director for this film as it demands a superlative background score. His rere cording in Pisasu was extremely good and I thought he would be the right fit for this film.