- We all know by now that none can create magic as beautiful as Mani Ratnam does in all his films and that is exactly what we expect from ‘Kaatru Veliyidai‘. After having a look at the visuals of the songs and the trailer, we sort of have no doubt anymore that it is all set to become one of the most magical films ever. In an exclusive interview with JFW, the movie choreographer Brinda talked to us about how the stars and the director were during the making process:
Aditi Rao Hydari-Kaatru Veliyidai
The most difficult song to compose and choreograph:
Every song is a lot of fun to choreograph and Mani sir usually never takes that imagination away from his team. However, if you ask me a song quite difficult, that would be the Tango song because we had to do full-fledged Tango from lifting steps to twirling steps everything was present and it had to be on point. There was this scene where the song would run in the background, Aditi will be saying a dialogue and the dance had to go on matching the dance and the dialogue, that was indeed a hard one for me and for Aditi. There were lots of scratches and everything on the body while practicing the lifting steps.
Aditi Rao Hydari
The experience of working with Mani Ratnam:
I can fulfill my passion and imagination with Mani Ratnam. You see I have worked with many directors but they all expect a lot of cinema, masala, and mass in it. Mani Ratnam is the only man who tries different styles of dance and that too to perfection. For example, which director thinks about doing a pure tango and keep the essence as it is without fusion? I had composed the ‘Sarrattu Vandiyila’ song in full folk but Mani sir had different ideas. He said, “Let’s give a western shape to this folk dance as Karthi plays the role of an Airforce pilot.”
Sarrattu Vandiyila song
How are the leads Karthi and Aditi as dancers?
They are one of the most hardworking professionals I have ever seen. Hats off to them for pulling off any song with ease. They were truly into it and put in a lot of effort to perfect every song and action. However, they are practiced to do before the come on sets. They have to do the complete homework of every song they do because you don’t learn the songs on the sets, you learn it way before and do the entire song in one length. The song ‘Azhagiye‘ was shot in one and a half days and ‘Vaan’ was shot in one day.
Did you know that the song ‘Vaan’ was shot in Bulgaria in the extreme winters? Here is what the actors did to survive:
Kaatru Veliyidai “Vaan” poster
Speaking of the song ‘Vaan’, how was it shot in Bulgaria during winter?
It was December and it had the worst climatic conditions ever. The shot had to be done within sunset and that happens at around 3:30 PM. The climate is so freezing that it’s unexplainable. Aditi had a very flimsy translucent saree to wear and hats off to both the actors for doing this song in extremities. We would ask them to not mess up any shot, finish it every shot in one take and go sit near the heater. They used to finish off every shot and run towards the heater. We had taught them lots of tricks and hacks to dance to perfection.
How was the experience of working with Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Raees’?
He is one of the most down to earth celebrities I have ever met. He is humble, humorous and makes us feel at home. I had this feeling that I’m from South and people there might ignore me but he spoke to me like I was his long lost friend and it was truly a great feeling. I remember adding a picture of our making still on my Twitter and I was absolutely surprised to see him not just remember me but also retweet my picture with a rather lovely message.
Kaatru Veliyidai-Sarrattu Vandiyila
What is most special about director Mani Ratnam and his team?
I have been working for Mani Ratnam since the movie ‘Iruvar‘ and it is beyond imagination as to how a human being ca never change since then. From caring for every detail in his film, his sets and his team to giving them fodder to their imagination he is truly the best director in the country. To him his work is everything. He is silent, punctual and an absolute lover of work. He has five minutes of discussion about a song and only sees during the rehearsal. He never questions the ability till then.
Ravi Varman creates painting through a camera. He is so quick that it’s unbelievable and he can finish off everything within a shot. From assistant directors to art directors to editors, they make the set looks so perfect from how it initially was is what we need to learn from them – perfection!
Tags: Aditi Rao Hydari, AR Rahman, Karthi Sivakumar, Mani Ratnam, Ravi Varman, Shah rukh khan, Brinda, Exclusive, Interview,