Something about interviewing Rajesh and Arya reminded me, oddly, of Mark Waugh’s slip fielding. The Australian made taking slip catches look so easy that one got the feeling it was the easiest job in cricket.
Director Rajesh, who made rollicking comedies such as Siva Manasula Sakthi , Boss Engira Bhaskaran and Oru Kal Oru Kannadi , loves to keep things simple. He doesn’t believe in intellectualising filmmaking and says his funny films are a reflection of his easy-going nature.
Arya, on the other hand, feels it is his off-screen friendship with Rajesh and Santhanam that translates to their great on-screen chemistry. The two are back with Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (VSOP).
“When producers approach me, they say ‘ Oru jollyaana padam pannallam’ (Let’s make a fun film)” says Rajesh. “So that’s what I try to do. I’m basically a jolly person who prefers to work with friends. To make a comedy film, you need to give artists a lot of freedom to improvise. So apart from making a fun film, I also try to make shooting a lot of fun. The best comedy scenes are just an extension of the fun we have on the sets.”
Arya, starring in his 25th film, says the toughest aspect of working with Rajesh and Santhanam, is to go on with a scene without laughing. “I can’t tell you how difficult it is to continue acting without breaking into laughter. I not only have to deal with Santhanam’s hilarious body language and dialogues, but also stay clear of others who are just as funny. I feel acting in these comedy scenes is tougher than doing intense emotional scenes.”
Rajesh admits that some of his funniest scenes result from the brainstorming of 10 minds. “After I write the first draft of a script, I sit with my team of six assistant directors for the dialogues. Unlike other emotions, comedy gives you instant feedback. So when we write a scene, it has to first make all of us laugh. It’s only then that we work it into the movie.”
What about scenes with Santhanam, considering he comes along with his own team of writers? “We give Santhanam and his writers the dialogue and they come up with three to four variations for the same joke,” says Rajesh. “For instance, in Boss Engira Bhaskaran, all I had written was for Santhanam to go up to a man receiving an award and ask simply ‘ Nee enna avvalavu periya aala? ’ Instead of that, he asked me if he could say ‘Nee avvalvavu periya appatakkara ?’ I found the term hilarious and let Santhanam do his magic. That dialogue has become a part of pop culture now,” he says.
Arya believes Rajesh’s greatest success has been his ability to stay true to a story without letting comedy take precedence. “At times, we shoot some really funny scenes that don’t make it to the final cut. No matter how funny it is, Rajesh will not take scenes that compromise the film’s story. I feel people never give directors like him enough credit. The effect of an emotional or action scene is enhanced two-fold by music and sound effects. But you can’t do that with comedy. Most directors no longer use sounds effects to cue in humour. So if a joke works, it is solely because of the dialogues, the situation or the actors. There’s nothing more irritating to a viewer than a bad comedy scene.”
The inability to find a right balance resulted in the failure of Rajesh’s last film All in All Azhagu Raja. He says, “I attract an audience that come to the theatre to laugh and have fun. Karthi, the star of All In All Azhagu Raja , has a fan base that wants strong emotional content. In my attempt to balance both, I made a film that was neither here nor there.” After watching the film, people came to me and asked why I tried ‘serious’ things like flashbacks. Others said they were disappointed because there were no guest appearances in the climax. VSOP will have everything audiences expect from me.”
Rajesh, while being credited with reintroducing the ‘ Nanbenda sentiment’ in Tamil cinema, has also been accused of glorifying alcohol consumption. Even his latest film’s title — Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga — acronyms to VSOP . “I’m very happy to take credit for the former,” laughs Rajesh. “But I honestly have no intention of glorifying drinking. I guess my initial films had several ‘TASMAC’ scenes and that gave me this reputation. But I’ve consciously reduced it. VSOP has just two drinking scenes. I can’t totally remove drinking scenes because I need them for the comedy. It’s a natural setting for people to do funnier, sillier things.”
