Tete-a-tete with Caarthick Raju, director of ‘Thirudan Police’

Caarthick Raju maybe making his directorial debut with forthcoming action-comedy “Thirudan Police”, but he isn’t a newcomer to the industry. With over a decade of experience in the visual effects and computer graphics department, Caarthick decided to wield the megaphone to do something more creative. In this candid chat, he opens up to Only Kollywood about Thirudan Police, which he describes as a project “close to the heart”.

Excerpts from the interview

Is your film’s title inspired by the popular children’s game? Tell me more about the film?

It’s an action script laced with comedy. It’s an emotional story that focuses on the bond between a father and son. My script is indeed based on the ‘hide-and-seek’ game that children play. The hero abhors the disciplinarian attitude of his father, who like every regular parent is strict to his son for his own betterment. The father believes that punishment should be instantaneous so that mistakes are not repeated. The film starts on the conflict between these two characters – the father and son. One particular incident makes the hero realize the importance and the presence of the father in his life. The story is how hide-and-seek continues to be played in adulthood when a thief and a cop come head-to-head.

What inspired you to weave a father-son story in a thriller? You could’ve safely made a comedy with a lot of drama

The inspiration came from one of the stories my father had written. A teacher walks into a classroom to find the children happily laughing about something. When he inquires about the reason, one student tells him that his father has gone on an official trip. The surprised teacher asks him what’s there to be so happy about it. There’s nobody now at home to nag me to do my homework or read. Mom gets angry occasionally but she seldom translates it physically. But my father is the exact opposite and wouldn’t miss an opportunity to get physical with me. How can I like such a father, the student asks? The teacher tells the class that most of you misunderstood your fathers. All of you should know that the money you spend is you father’s. He tells the class to go and talk to the families sans fathers to get a better understanding of how is it to live. I really liked this story and wrote a character of that of a boy (hero), who hates his father for several small reasons. To showcase a tough father, I wrote this story against a police backdrop. Dinesh has played the role of a police constable. The general perception we have against police is bad as we assume that they loot us off our money. I’ve tried to break that stereotype by portraying Dinesh in a role that’s quite realistic. Audiences will get to see the fun, pain and suffering of a police constable through the eyes of Dinesh.

The father-son relationship in our films has always been very melodramatic. How have you handled that on screen?

You wouldn’t find an overdose of drama. I can guarantee it. Moreover, the father-son bond is explored at some important instances and not on a full-length basis. We’ve made this film as a tribute to all fathers. In the credits, we came up with this idea of having pictures of all the technicians and actors with their fathers. We end the film with an emotional song as a tribute to fathers. I decided that featuring photographs of the technicians with their father will be a great idea. I also wanted to include a picture with my father, but that’s when I realized I don’t actually have a picture with him. I had group picture but not a single one with just my father and I. Even most of my team members didn’t have a separate picture with their fathers. We collected all their photos, cut them using Photoshop and included in the credits. The idea was to reiterate that we have time to click selfies with friends but never do we even think of clicking a picture with our fathers. The film is mostly funny but it will leave you with a thought, which I think audiences will realize after they go home.

How did Dinesh come into the project? He played a blind character in his last film, contrary to the police constable role in your film.

He had committed to Thirudan Police even before he started shooting for Cuckoo. I felt Dinesh was most apt for the film because his attitude is best suited for the script. Nobody else would look best in the role of a police constable. We all remember police inspectors and commissioners, but rarely does anyone remember a constable. That’s why I felt I should cast someone whose face audiences are not familiar with. The film’s co-producer Selvakumar and I are close friends. Both of us used to work together. In life, I think, you need to be blessed with two things – family and friends. After spending 15 years in the computer graphics department, when I decided to quit and enter cinema, my family was shocked. But when I explained my script, they encouraged me to give it a try. I approached many producers with my script, but most turned me down citing reason that I haven’t assisted any filmmaker or made any short films. That’s when Selva, who is aware of my directorial dream, decided to produce my film. At the same time, S.P Charan had posted on Twitter that he’s looking to produce interesting scripts. I’ve done CG work for his films such as Aaranya Kaandam and Chennai 600028. I approached him with the idea to co-produce my film provided he likes the script. He liked the story and decided to make this a joint venture. I wouldn’t have made this without the support of Selva and Charan sir. Selva didn’t even bother to listen to the story but still agreed to produce my film because he couldn’t see me struggling. But I forced him to listen to the story two days before start of the shoot. Working with a friend as a producer was quite challenging because it made me very responsible of everything I was doing with his money. Vijay Sethupathi has done a cameo in the film. He also comes in a special song. It was Dinesh, who convinced Vijay to be part of the project. It was their friendship that brought them together. Yuvan Shankar Raja came on board because of Charan sir. Friendship plays a pivotal role in the making of this film. SPB sir has also done a guest performance in the film. The scene featuring him will be very emotional. With Vijay Sethupathi and SPB on board, I felt highly responsible, which motivated me.

You come from a graphics department with zero experience in filmmaking. How challenging was the writing process?

I started writing while I was working as a computer graphic supervisor. I would usually write in the nights after I come back home from work. Cameraman Velraj (director of VIP) is a very close friend. I can even call him my brother. He guided me in this journey. He directed me to the right persons in the industry to find opportunities. Even he wanted me to assist some director before thinking of making my own film, but something gave me the confidence that I could pull it off on my own. I showed him three scripts and he chose Thirudan Police as he felt it was cinema material.

What was most challenging in this whole process?

I didn’t find anything challenging. While I admit not assisting to any director was a drawback, but I somehow managed to make my film. My computer graphic background came in very handy while shooting the songs. If I have to point out something challenging, it would be to make Dinesh come out of Cuckoo zone. We started shooting Thirudan Police four days after Cuckoo was wrapped up. Every time I’d say action, Dinesh’s eyes would automatically go in because he still couldn’t come out of the blind character. It took us a few days to get him out of that zone.