"Superstar asked for the film's title and said the film is 50% hit with the title itself"
By Arvind Sundaram | Galatta | April 17, 2019 17:09 PM IST
Ghilli is considered to be one of the biggest ever blockbusters in the career of Thalapathy Vijay that enjoys a crazy fan base. The film also earned him a lot of new fans. Prakash Raj's villainism was highly enjoyed by the fans and the family audience and the film was an highly engaging affair.
The film celebrates its 15th year anniversary today as its release date was exactly this same day in 2004. On the occasion of this, we spoke to director Dharani and he was both moved and delighted to talk about the film. He was all praise for the film's music director Vidya Sagar, whose songs were chartbusters. As a sweet recall, he also shared the memories of his conversation with Superstar Rajinikanth during the start of the shooting.
Dharani started off by saying, "What to say about the songs of music director Vidya Sagar! We all know what kind of chartbuster appdi podu is. Lyricists Kabilan, Yugabharathy and PA Vijay had done their job very well. My cameraman Gopinath while taking a risky crane shot was injured but by God’s grace, he came out. It is very difficult to edit those footages and turn into a cohesive narrative and editor VT Vijayan did it. Art director Mani Raj had to erect a set in the sand which he did splendidly. It is not easy to cast a set in sand. He turned in a superb 200 feet lighthouse too. '
Dialogue writer Bharadhan’s contribution is phenomenal. The film was replete with many clap worthy dialogues, be it Vijay’s comedy sequence or serious segments. Raaki Rajesh had worked in a risky chase and he carefully handled it. In my opinion, the success of Ghilli is the result of the hard work of the entire Team Ghilli."
While talking about Rajinikanth, Dharani said, "When I had begun the film, Rajini sir spoke to me. He wondered if Okkadu can be remade and I confidently said YES. He asked for the title and when I said Ghilli, he immediately said the film is 50% hit with this title itself. True to his words, Ghilli was a massive success and like a cherry on the cake, we had invited him to give a shield to everyone on the film’s 230th day.
He was very happy, hugged me and congratulated me. I take this opportunity to thank all those who worked with me in this film. My heartfelt thanks to one and all! I also thank the fans, theatre owners, distributors, media and the press. Without you all, a success of such a humongous proportion would not have been possible. If I had missed anyone, please forgive me."