Why Apoorva Sagodharargal of Kamal Haasan is 30 years old

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao does not believe in past glory – he did not revisit his films after their release. "The moment I'm done with a movie, it's over. Thirty years ago, I made a joke and laughed. But the same joke may not work today, Singeetam smiles, slouching in his chair at his desk, which has been his creative space, paving the way for innovative films.

One of these is . ] Apoorva Sagodharargal, who, he says, was the result of insanity. Kamal Haasan struggled with the idea of ​​playing a dwarf and spoke to Singeetam about it. "I remember him playing a dwarf in a small scene in K Balachander's movie (Punnagai Mannan )."

Few people know that Kamal and Singeetam had originally planned to tell a tragic story – that of a dwarf working in a circus and falling in love with a woman who does not share his feelings. "He realizes that she did not leave him for another man until it reached its peak, with a song inducing to the tear of" lala lala "of Ilaiyaraaja. We even shot for a week, "he recalls, adding," But I was skeptical … because Kamal was a superstar and people would not agree to lose him.

When Singeetam and Kamal came up against an obstacle, that was The producer Panchu Arunachalam who later produced their cult comedy by Michael Madhana Kama Rajan (MMKR ), who rescued them. "If you do not feel well, consult a doctor who will diagnose your illness. Panchu Arunachalam was one of those doctors. He said with a laugh, "When we consulted, you have a unique character: the dwarf; make him the hero and your photo is a success. "

Arunachalam changed the text according to the public sensitivity of Kodambakkam and suggested to Kamal to play a dual role – as twins." We already had Raja, who "satisfied" the popular audience and Appu, who wrote the actual story. "

Although Singeetam was convinced by Arunchalam's computational approach, he was still worried about the danger of erasure of the other character. "Appu was an interesting character, which was an instant hit.But I was not sure about Raja.If your scenario has a special character, the chances that the other one becomes insignificant are quite possible, "he explains.That's why we introduced mistaken identity, tiger dance and romance."

The filmmaker thinks that Apoorva Sagodharargal was possible thanks to a pbadionate producer – Kamal Haasan, clbadify Kamal, the pr Odor, above the actor of this film. Sometimes an artist requires a little bit of madness. In this sense, Kamal is following among masters like Hitchbad, Orson Welles, V Shantaram and Raj Kapoor. "

The camaraderie that Singeetam shares with Kamal is pretty obvious when he talks about their long badociation." We never had ego conflicts and had the habit of laughing at This is perhaps why our friendship continues today. "

A roller coaster ride

Singeetham remembers shooting in Cochin for Circus people joined our production and made it easy for us, but we were not able to finish shooting, so we brought lions, tigers and elephants to the Venus studios, forming our own small circus, "he jokes. Thirty years later, the technique used to represent the dwarf remains a mystery. Mention him, and the filmmaker ignores the techniques. According to Singeetam, the biggest achievement of the film was: "the ability to con defeat the audience that Kamal was a dwarf ". He explains, "People would talk about how we made the film, because the computer graphics was gone. Families mbadively mbadaged … because they believed that Kamal was a dwarf. "

He adds," Technique is a minor thing. Recently, there have been movies about the dwarves. Everything is available today; technology, budget and star, but it misses the soul. "

Apoorva Sagodharargal also paid tribute to Mera Naam Joker . Has Singeetam been influenced by Raj Kapoor's management? "Not knowingly, but yes, I've been unconsciously influenced by the film. But even then, it was not an unscrupulous scam. "

Apoorva Sagodharargal never adopted a condescending tone or shamed his protagonist, even though his character is vertically challenged. "We were aware that Appu should not be humiliated." Even when the film almost did that, Appu turned into a beast. One scene that comes to my mind is one in which he is about to commit suicide: "Appu is wearing a jester mask, but below pain. He's a bit of a chaplinist, "he says, adding that" the film worked because these scenes were neither concocted nor staged. When you do that, it becomes inorganic. "

One of the underrated aspects of Apoorva Sagodharargal was his awesome cast – which included names like Nagesh, Srividya, Nbader, Manorama, Jaishankar, Janagaraj and Delhi Ganesh. It is no surprise that Nagesh has surpbaded them all recognizes Singeetham. Highlighting the unusual cast, he says, "Sometimes an unexpected person will be a bigger hit than a conventional villain, provided he is extremely talented." He speaks with great value of Nagesh, who gave life to the character of Dharmaraj. "It's still the Nagesh who played a corpse in Magalir Mattum and Avinashi in MMKR. He is one of the great actors we have had.

Singeetam tells an interesting anecdote about how he approached Prem Nazir in an attempt to understand Sethupathy's role. "He (Prem Nazir) was very sick at that time. After playing two roles, I asked Kamal to make another one, "he jokes.

Ask him about the awesome word game – thanks to Crazy Mohan – where Appu says: " Sethupathi ku poranthathu rettai … adhula onnu kuttai " and he says, "Some things appear after you have locked the script, just like this one. If there had been Prem Nazir, it probably would not have been there.

Memories of Murder

One of the highlights of Apoorva Sagodharargal apart from his performances and his songs, was his innovative way of rendering justice to the vigilantes. "He was a very intelligent dwarf and also a circus performer. More than revenge, he wanted to be entertained. If you look at Appu's cruel smile at its apogee, it is his peak avatar narasimha . "

Singeetam has a new perspective of the character. "If you watch closely, Appu does not kill anyone," he shrugs, "Any normal person would end up in a split second, but not Appu.Killing was a cheap thing for him."

When Kamal turns to the last scene, the whole unit is moved, with the exception of Singeetam. "He was brilliant, but I was not able to accept it by sobbing." I said to him, "Straighten the

Kamal re-turned the stage, but this time people did not applaud him, they were stunned, as was the audience.