Interview with Sibiraj about ‘Naaigal Jaakirathai’ – The Canine Story

When news about Sibi doing a film with a dog in the lead broke out, it raised quite a few eyebrows. I was one among the few to have initially contacted Sibi to find out more about his ambitious project, fittingly titled ‘Naaigal Jaakirathai’. This was almost a year ago, even before the film went on floors and the makers were on the lookout for a dog, a Belgian Shepherd to be precise. I spoke to him recently again to learn about his experience of working alongside a canine, Idoh, who was born on Aug 15, 2009 at a puppy farm in Bangalore.

Excerpts from the interview:

What attracted you to this project the most since this also happens to be your comeback film almost after four years?

I think it was the uniqueness of the script. I’ve been thinking of doing a dog film for quite some time and I wanted to do a kind of film that hasn’t been done before in Tamil cinema. There are few Tamil films featuring dogs, but never have we seen a film before where the dog and the hero have equal screen space. This is what makes ‘Naaigal Jaakirathai’ special. Since Shakti (director) and I have worked together before in ‘Naanayam’ and we’re great friends, both of us were ready to experiment with this film.

How challenging was it to act alongside a dog?

Finding a dog for the role was more challenging than acting alongside it. When the script work was going on, I started looking out for the dog. We started in Chennai and went to Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. We even decided to go up north if needed. We even came in contact with the dog that acted in Akshay Kumar’s ‘Entertainment’, but it wasn’t suitable for the role because we wanted a dog that could perform complex action sequences. It was through social networking we finally found Idoh. I had tweeted that I was looking for a certain type of dog to star in my film. Director Venkat Prabhu retweeted my request and the head of a popular dog food company got in touch with me. He referred a place in Bangalore called Stealth Paws, a training school for dogs that are enrolled into Indian Army, CRPF and several security agencies.

Idoh became very friendly with me while shooting. But the major challenge was to shoot the action sequences with it on sets because every time the director yelled ‘action’, Idoh would grab my wrist and chase anyone who was closest to him. I had to endure about 13 bites during the course of the shoot. He didn’t like people yelling around him and hence, we learnt to shoot with gestures.

How did you manage to overcome all this and successfully complete the film?

Initially it was very difficult but after a point of time, I knew what triggered the dog. I took necessary precautions, injections and covered myself with protective gear in all the important places. I was lucky that nothing seriously went wrong.

How did you believe that a script featuring a dog in such a prominent role will work?

I believe Tamil cinema has reached a point where anything pertaining to a certain genre doesn’t work anymore. People are looking forward to something new and creative. I’m not trying to prove that I’ve made the first full-length dog film in the language. Audiences will like the film because the script has justified the dog’s presence. Having a dog just for the heck of it won’t work and that’s precisely what we avoided doing in ‘Naaigal Jaakirathai’.

By working in the film have you become a better dog person?

I think I’ve become a better actor. When you’re working with a dog, you obviously can’t converse with it in words. The only way you can understand it is through certain expressions. If Idoh used some expression, I had to understand it and react accordingly. In the process, I’ve grown as an actor and I hope this experience will make me a saleable star as well (laughs).

You’ve also produced this film. Talk about the challenges you encountered as a producer?

We shot in quite a number of locations. Predominantly the movie happens in Coimbatore, but we also traveled to Ooty, Palakkad and Kulu Manali. As a producer, arranging the shoot and managing the logistics in these places was a challenge. My mother and I handled the entire production. Another big concern was when we were shooting in Ooty. According to reports, a man-eating tiger used to frequent the place at nights. We were informed that the tiger was killed by forest officials, but we heard its growl quite a few times while shooting at night. It was very intimidating whenever we heard it and to add to our woes, the localities said that the officials killed the wrong tiger and the real man-eater was still alive and roaming the forest.

The response to the film’s trailer has been very positive. How do you think the audience will receive the film?

I’m sure the film will be far better than the trailer. If you saw the first teaser, you’d get the feeling that it’s a comedy film. When you look at our motion poster, you feel it’s a horror movie. But the idea behind the poster was to reiterate that the hero as well the dog have equal weightage in the film. When we finally released the trailer, we made it very evident that our film is an action-thriller. But the film will have adequate dose of fun too.

How did you manage to train the dog to do action sequences because handling a canine is so different from directing an actor?

The dog was already trained to do lot of action. If you visit the dog’s training school, it’s a big farm with the perfect environment to train the dog. These dogs can climb ladders, jump over moving cars, jump into a moving bus and even jump through fire. I can proudly say that shooting action sequences with the dog was actually quite easy than working with stuntmen.

You have donned the producer’s hat with this film. Will we see more of you as an actor or producer in the future?

I would definitely like to be more active as an actor. But I plan to produce at least one film every year. If the script is good and it demands some other actor, I don’t mind even producing it. Mostly I’ll be looking at choosing good scripts and acting in it.

Any particular reason why you want to produce your own film, knowing the risk involved is high when a project doesn’t work?

When you’re producing your own film, everything comes under your control. Even when it comes to promotions, I think it gives you the freedom to innovate. And certain scripts require certain budget to be made on. You can’t expect other producer to be willing to shell out so much moolah. If I really like and believe in a script, I think it would make sense if I produce it on my own.

Your last film (Naanayam) came out in 2010. Do you think this gap of four years would’ve made audiences forget you as an actor?

I feel through social media audiences are always connected with their stars. I’m very active on Twitter and Facebook. As an actor, I’ve reached a point in my career where doing meaningful films matters the most. After ‘Lee’ and ‘Naanayam’, I felt any film I sign has to have some element beyond the actor and the script. Because I feel good scripts alone don’t work anymore. It has to have some new element in it. Take for instance ‘Pizza’, which is just a con movie but the ghost element made it even more interesting. There has to be something unique in the film.

Sibi is currently working on the film’s release taking into consideration several factors. He says one of the highlights of the film will be the song ‘Doggy Style’, sung by Gaana Bala and lyrics by Madhan Karky. It’s a promo song where the hero sings in praise of Idoh.