Actor-politician Vijayakanth passed away in Chennai on Thursday morning, December 28, after being admitted to the hospital following complications of pneumonia. With many big names paying their tributes to the founder of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) political party, leading Tamil filmmaker A. R. Murugadoss shared memories of his time spent with the Tamil cinema stalwart when they worked together in the blockbuster, Ramana (2002). In an exclusive telephonic interview with Galatta, A. R. Murugadoss opened up on how he was anxious initially during filming to direct Vijayakanth, while also sharing his thoughts on Ramana 2.
A. R. Murugadoss recalled working with Vijayakanth during Ramana and said, "It was surprising to me back in the day that I was directing someone like Vijayakanth, a senior artiste, in my second film because I had relatively little experience and had done only one film at that point of time. I was a bit hesitant during the first two days of the shooting about how I would direct him. But, as the shooting progressed, he understood that I was hesitating and he would sit with me and indulge in conversations. We would eat together and that distance between us went away soon. He would also discuss various topics with me to make my anxiousness go away. And, that is the reason why I was able to make such a big film. If that distance between us remained till the end of the shooting, that communication would not have happened. I was able to make the film because he made the rapport easy between us."
Speaking about the story discussion of Ramana, A.R. Murugadoss stated, "I was told that he should not play a parent and that he wanted a climax without his death. As I began narrating the story, he got engrossed in the story and gave his nod when I shared the climax that I had initially planned. That was how the film began. It was his belief in the script that convinced him to agree to do the film."
A.R. Murugadoss also spoke about his thoughts on a Ramana sequel and said, "After the culture of parts 2 & 3 began and Indian 2 was launched, I did have thoughts at times that we could do Ramana 2 with 'Captain'. But, if he had been healthy, he would have acted in more films. That would have helped many people to come up in life because he has been part of village-based films like Chinna Gounder, Vaidehi Kathirunthal, and En Aasai Machan, while also acting in revolutionary stories like Captain Prabhakaran, Pulan Visaranai, Ramana, and many more. He acted in films that gave film institute students a chance to shine like Ommai Vizhigal, which introduced him only in the second half. He's a hero who has appeared on 70MM screens the most and wanted to convey revolutionary ideas in films, which is something that directors usually do. He did it with boldness and there would be no vulgar scenes in his films. He balanced his career with both village-based films and revolutionary stories."
Listen to A. R. Murugadoss talk about 'Captain' Vijayakanth in the video below:
