Interview with Magizh Thirumeni

After the critically acclaimed Thadaiyara Thaaka, Director Magizh Thirumeni is ready with his next action thriller Meagaamann, starring Arya and Hansika in lead roles.

With the film’s audio launch scheduled on August 14th, Only Kollywood interacted with the filmmaker about Meagaamann, working with Arya, his past experiences and more.

Going by the trailer of ‘Meagaamann’, it looks like a commercial action flick. But how different will it be from the films we’ve seen in this genre?

It’s an action-thriller. It is a commercial film and I’ve made it using the same template used for such films. But what I’ve attempted to do is to reinterpret the formula used to make commercial films. I’ve taken some liberty and added a new perspective. I’ve tried to keep it logical and realistic. In the hero’s introduction scene, you wouldn’t find vehicles flying.

Audiences have seen Arya lately in a slew of rom-coms, especially in the last two years. How did you decide he would be perfect for the role?

As you said that we’ve only seen Arya in rom-coms and that’s what actually pushed me to zero in on him. I could see him as a potentially interesting actor to carry off this role. He’s been around for a while and has got no such background to lean on. He came on his own, struggled to find a strong foothold and has succeeded. He may not have done a typical action film, but he has done films where we’ve witness his potential. I really felt if I could use Arya in a way that he’s not been used before, in a way he’s not been portrayed before, I was sure that he could do full justice to it. And after having worked with him all these days, he’s justified the belief I had in him. He’s a naturally intelligent person. He understands the nuances of cinema, understands the story of a film and is capable of giving very good performance. I was stunned with his performance in this film. He’s also a fine person to work with. He’s very genuine and there’s absolutely nothing fake or pretentious about him.

Any physical transformation Arya underwent for the role?

In terms of get up and looks, there’s no startling transformation because the story did not require it. But in terms of body language, you’ll see a performance from Arya you’ve not seen before. You’ll see a very subtle and manly Arya in the film.

Arya is basking in the success of back-to-back hits (Arrambam and Raja Rani). Was it a pressure to direct him?

Not at all. It was absolutely fun working with him. And to have created an ambience which made working easier, I should also have to credit my producer Mr. Jhabak. We started off as a team and after about 100 days of filming, we retained the same energy level from the beginning of the shoot. That was possible because I had a great hero, producer and of course my team.

I really liked your last film (Thadaiyara Thaakka) but I’m not sure if it commercially did well. Any learning from it that you kept in mind while making “Meagaamann”?

I’m glad you liked the film. But whether or not the film made money to the extent that my producer, Arun and I would’ve wanted it to, maybe it did not. But it did make a tight profit. It was a profitable venture. It gave all of us a break. It gave me and Arun a break in the industry. After the release of the film, I was told that it would’ve worked better had it featured a more popular hero. It would’ve been a bigger film commercially. But I don’t regret it even for a second. Arun did full justice to the film. I think ten years down the line, when a new generation sees the film they’re not going to remember where Arun Vijay’s career was standing when it was made. They’ll only see it as a good or bad film. I’ll be happy if my film is accepted in the future and I’m hopeful that it will because in the future the new generation will only see it as an Arun Vijay film.

I have worked as an assistant to Selvaraghavan and Gautham Menon. All of us know that when you can get the dates of a popular actor, everything becomes easier, especially the money flow. When you have the money coming in, freedom automatically comes into the picture. And after the completion of the film, it’s easier to take it to the cinemas with a bankable star cast. I was aware of all this when I made my last film with Arun Vijay. But, in the last two years, I realized almost 30 lakhs people have watched the film on the internet. They may not have watched it in cinemas because it barely ran for a week or two, but they accepted the film over the course of time and confronted critics who panned the film initially with their unanimous positive verdict. It’s one of the joys a filmmaker can hope for.

Based on your learning did you cast Arya because he’s a bankable star and he can attract audiences to the cinemas?

(Laughs) It’s like this. A script’s budget is decided by the script itself. This script needed a larger investment. I couldn’t have done this film with newcomers or actors with low marketability. I didn’t choose Arya just because it’s a high-budget film, but since I felt he was apt for the role. If filmmaking were to be writing, all this wouldn’t have come into count.

Going back to the film’s teaser, I could sense a lot of action in the film. What kind of action will we see in it?

We needed realistic stunt choreography for this film, and therefore, we’ve choreographed the stunts within that parameter. I’ve always worked with Anal Arasu (stunt master). He’s one person who understands my requirements and he’s choreographed exactly the way I would want it.

“Meagaamann”, which also features Hansika Motwani, Sudhanshu Pandey, Harish Uthaman and Anupama Kumar in important roles, was completely shot in Chennai as well as Goa. It has music by S.S Thaman, who has collaborated with Magizh for the third time.