Velaikkaran: Art director Muthuraj talks about the authentically constructed slum set

Art director Muthuraj talks about the authentically constructed slum set in ‘Velaikkaran.’ Starring Sivakarthikeyan, Nayanthara and Fahad Faasil as leads, the movie is directed by Mohan Raja and produced by R D Raja of ‘24AM STUDIOS’.

Speaking about the set, Muthuraj says, “A major portion of the story happens in a slum area where the hero and his friends are born and brought up and live. It was producer RD Raja who first told me ‘let us create the entire slum set up’. I went and saw 10-15 real slums to observe their setups and lifestyle and did extensive research on it. Then we started the set work and it took around 50-55 days to just finish the set and get it ready for shooting. We actually created the whole locality where people of all kinds of labour and religion live. Each and every house will have a characterisation and a purpose. We also made sure the houses and the locality are cramped to bring more realism. We used real garbage, used plastic bottles, plastic covers and many such items to bring out the authenticity of the geography. We also created a ‘Koovam’ around the locality to depict the lifestyle of a slum. The whole set was around 7.5 acres in area. We shot for around 50 days in this set. Without the producer’s immense support and cooperation, this vision would not have been possible at all. ‘Velaikkaran’ will definitely take Sivakarthikeyan to the next level. Director Mohan Raja’s script, writing and detailing was fabulous.”

Velaikkaran has Ramji’s cinematography, Anirudh’s music and Ruben’s editing. RJ Balaji, Sneha, Robo Shankar, Sathish and Vijay Vasanth have played important characters in the movie. ‘Velaikkaran‘ is slated for a grand release on December 22nd.