The shoot of Hansika’s next Tamil film, Vijay Chander’s maiden production venture directed by Sabari-Saravanan, took place at a tech park in the city. The floor was filled with laughter and fun even as the team was only in the second day of their shoot.
The announcement of Hansika’s next with Vaalu and Sketch director Vijay Chander was made last week. The horror-comedy directed by the duo Sabari and Saravanan instantly went on floors in the city. As we entered the sets, we could see the team bonding with each other and sharing jokes and smiles. When we ask if the team had announced the project when the shoot was in it’s second or third schedule, producer Vijay Chander says, “This is only the second day of the shoot and the crew is gelling well with each other. It is a positive sign indeed.” This is his second collaboration with Hansika after his debut directorial film Vaalu.
“Hansika is a good friend, and she allocated a good chunk of dates when I approached her for the project. There is humour, and good emotion in the script. I believe that Hansika is a good bet to carry this role. Saravanan, too, has been a good friend and we have known each other since Sketch days. When he told me about this story, I asked them to direct it and I said I will bankroll the project. Everything fell in place for us,” adds Vijay, and takes us to the shooting floor outside the room.
Dressed in white, Hansika is seen discussing the scene with Sabari and Saravanan as cinematographer Shakthi is seen setting up the camera. Comedian Thangadurai, who plays the role of Hansika’s office attender, takes the position and camera rolls. The dialogue exchange between the actors ends up being funny and they all have a good laugh. Hansika then meets us and says, “This project is a package. There is everything in it. There is comedy, fantasy, adventure and thrill to it. As Vijay said, my call-sheet was kind of choc-o-bloc. However, I wanted to do this as the story is quite different from my previous projects.” The actress adds that it is also the mutual trust between her and Vijay. “The execution and treatment has been quite interesting. We are only on the second day so I cannot divulge much. It is just a happy set as you could see,” she smiles and goes for the take.
Hansika is seen talking her own lines and is visibly more comfortable than before with the language. “I’m confident about Tamil because I have started knowing the emotions behind each dialogues now. I would also love to dub my own lines but I don’t want any goof ups there. So, I will take some more time. But I can live in Chennai and handle things on my own now,” she says with huge confidence.
Director Sabari and Saravanan also squeezed in time to talk to us in the middle of what has been a busy shooting schedule. The duo says, “The vibe has been pretty good with the team, and Hansika is co-operative. As you could see, we have been discussing scenes before we shoot it, and the process has been quite organic. Producer Vijay Chander, who is finding this film under his banner Filmworks has been supportive and knows exactly what we need. It is because he has been a director and knows what it takes to deliver a film with a good output.”
On the other end of the floor, we could hear a group of people laughing and in the middle of it was actor Thangadurai. He greets us and says he wouldn’t say no for a Vijay Chander film. “It was him who introduced me in Vaalu. When I was asked to do this role, it was different from whatever I have been doing in my other eight projects. I have been given the liberty to perform comedy here and it has been a lot of fun so far,” he adds. The actors gather again in front of the camera and Hansika is being warned by her boss. Artiste Shobana, who plays one of the antagonists says, “I play Hansika’s boss and directors have given us the free hand in coming up with improvisations on the sets. This role is contrasting from my previous film Kottravai.” The team breaks for a brief period before bracing themselves up for a long evening.
