Interview with Ashwin Saravanan, director of Maya
In this freewheeling conversation with Only Kollywood, director Ashwin Saravanan talks about his debut feature Maya, working with Nayanthara and how his film is different from the usual horror-comedies being dished out in Tamil cinema.
Maya is understandably your debut film. Have you had exposure to cinema before foraying into feature film-making? 
I have made few short films during my college time. Only after that, I got serious about film-making as a career. And when I narrated the story, few didn’t have the trust in me since I have never worked as an AD. So naturally people had doubts on how I will execute. So I made a pilot sequence of 5 minutes from the film, under a proper production aided by a reasonable budget. Then, I pitched my story with this pilot footage. And they are impressed with the content and how I shot it. And, that’s how everthing started.
Horror films are the latest fad in Tamil cinema. Are you following the trend?
May be it’s the situation now, but when I scripted Maya two years back, only Pizza was released. So I didn’t think about following the trend. But Maya will be a genuine supernatural horror film sans any comedy or romance elements. It will be as real as Yaavarum Nalam and Eeram with bonafide supernatural factors aided by genuine horror and emotional aspects. It will definitely be different from other horror subjects and a standout film in the genre.
What inspired you to make a full-length horror flick?
I have grown up watching such movies. I used to watch Marma Desam and Vidadhu Karuppu avidly. So I wanted to make a film which is 
story-centric and devoid of forced elements in the script. Basically I have made a movie which I always wanted to watch. Plus the script didn’t demand comedy at all, so we have driven the film purely on horror.
Sound-scape is integral to any horror film. How has the music come out?
Ron is a debutant composer. So Maya, apart from being a career starter, will also stay special for us. Ron and I didn’t set any benchmarks. I wanted to give my cent percent and likewise, he didn’t take any other project for at least one and half years. I told him my expectations without any references and the music has been extracted from the story and characters. Actually, Ron gave me a lot of tracks before the shoot and I used to listen to the tracks and themes during the shooting. He started to work from the pre-production stage so we didn’t try to compose after the scenes are done. And background score was recorded in a Symphony Orchestra at Macedonia since we needed an international quality sound for the movie.
Was it challenging to wield the megaphone for the first time?
Definitely it was challenging in the initial days. Because for a short film, you just have to deal with a maximum of fifteen members and that too most of them being your friends, the task is cut out for you. But the same is not the case with a feature film. So it was a little hard to manage people, to convey and convince them. To make them perceive your thoughts and ideas was really challenging. But I gradually bettered and I don’t find it difficult anymore.
Working with Nayanthara..
I was very apprehensive, because the story was very unconventional and she has to portray a ‘mother’ character. I narrated the script as it was on paper and didn’t change anything to suit her. She was pretty okay; she used to watch many horror films so she understood the essence of the script. She could understand my vision and what I expected, so it was quite easy for me. Other than that we didn’t have any discussions. 
She didn’t object or try to change any aspect of the script. I have made the film the way I really wished.
Did you have any alternate ideas for the cast?
I really didn’t have any ideas on the cast during scripting. But the female character demanded a good screen presence so we chose Nayanthara and production house also suggested her. Then we approached her and everything fell in place.
How was it working with Potential Studios?
Potential studios is new to production, it’s a venture started by five partners. Initially I narrated the story to two of them. They agreed to do it after I narrated the story to all the five partners. They already had blocked three scripts but Maya materialized first due to logistic reasons and some other factors.
What are you working on next?
Next is a break. It’s been more than two years since I started scripting. I was continuously working, so I will take a break. And probably after the break, I will think about my next. I still have this Maya hangover. So I have to come over it before I start my next.
Only Kollywood wishes the team a great success. Maya releases on September 17th worldwide.
Interviewed by Karthik K
