Niranjani Agathiyan on Siddharth’s 25 appearances in Kaaviya Thalaivan

Director Vasantha Balan’s Kaaviya Thalaivan is one of the much-awaited films in the offing. It is a period drama about the story of theater artistes in the early 20th century and the film focusses on the rivalry between Siddharth and Prithviraj. Niranjani Agathiyan – daughter of filmmaker Agathiyan and a former associate of Gautham Menon’s regular collaborator Nalini Sriram – the costume designer of the film has opened up about the arduous research she had to undergo for the film.

“I was shuttling libraries, watched old movies, surfed the internet, and referred a lot of books. The whole experience was quite hectic, but also gratifying. I had to devise the wardrobe for both on-stage and off-stage scenes in the film. We have used 25 appearances for Siddharth alone with different set of ornaments for each,” says Nirajani to a daily. Sigaram Thodu, which releases this Friday, marks Niranjani’s debut as a costume designer. She is also part of GV Prakash’s Pencil, Trisha Illana Nayanthara and an untitled film with her father Agathiyan in which her sister Vijayalakshmi plays the female lead.