“I want to act for profit.. I want to act for soul satisfaction”; M.S. Bhaskar is emotional about the film Kasivu
“It’s like I got another National Award for speaking and acting on the writings of writer Poomani”; M.S. Bhaskar is emotional
Writer Poomani’s novel ‘Kasivu’ made into a film; Streaming on Odd Plus from Oct-23
In the series of novels and short stories of Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer Poomani, now his novel Kasivu has been made into a film of the same name.
National award-winning actor M.S. Bhaskar plays the hero of the story, Vijayalakshmi and Hello Kandasamy play the lead roles. The film is directed by Varadhan Senbagavalli. Vetriselvan has produced the film.
The film, which has participated in various film festivals and won awards in several categories, is streaming on OTT Plus from the night of October 23. Following this, a press conference for the film was held yesterday (October 23) evening at the Saligramam Prasad Label in Chennai. Writer Poomani, directors Subramania Siva, Ajayan Bala, Cable Shankar and rapper Arivu were among the special guests at the event. Before the event began, the film Kasivu was screened for journalists.
Speaking at the event,
Director Subramania Siva said,
“In 1998, when Aiya Poomani directed his novel Karuvelam Pookkal as a film, I worked with him as an assistant director. To what extent is he honest, he returned the remaining money from the budget given for the production of that film to the production company. Poomani is a writer who can tell stories in the language of the people. He spoke about the problems of the people with blood and flesh. A writer with a great personality. Even the best of people have bad back stories. For those who say what it is at the point of death and leave their lives, it may be a source of spiritual satisfaction. But it will only cause hardship to others dependent on him. Therefore, we should not say it until our lives are over. This has been beautifully depicted in this leaked film.”
Rapper Arivu spoke,
“I have not read this leaked story. But after watching the film, it brought back memories of living with my grandparents and being in the same town where the story takes place. They make some mistakes at an early age and then overcome them and give advice to make our lives better through that experience. This film will have a very important impact on the viewers,” he said.
Discovery Book Palace founder Vediyappan spoke,
“The final scene of this film was heartbreaking and proved what he said about man being a great fool. I have seen Poomani Ayya’s Karuvelam Pookkal as a viewer. I have tried to film his novel Vekkai and have spoken to him many times.. but Vetrimaaran has made it into a film,” he said.
Writer and director Ajayan Bala spoke,
Writer Poomani is a huge achiever. It is rare for a writer to turn into a director and try to film his own film. He achieved it 23 years ago with the film Karuvelam Pookkal. He has strongly recorded the lives of the oppressed people in literature. His name will always be in the ranks of the writers of Karisal. The impact and resonance that this film creates in us can be said to be leakage. When I watched this film, I remembered the mistake I made in my childhood. M.S. Bhaskar has expressed the guilt in my subconscious in a special way in his Ponnandi character. Actor Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan is said to be the one who shows his acting even on his back. After him, M.S. Bhaskar is such an actor and he has a chance to get a National Award again with this film,” he said.
Director Cable Shankar speaking.
“I watch at least 40 films a month for various reasons. Very few films have an impact on us. The truth is that I did not get the satisfaction of reading writer Poomani’s Vekkai novel when it was released as a film. All humans have a dark side. Like the Ponnandi character in this film, my grandfather also had some things in his mind. He died with satisfaction after speaking the truth in the last period. This leaked novel is a web series-like effort. We can say that this is the first film in it. An atmosphere has now emerged that the film would be good if only M.S. Bhaskar acted in it. To that extent, he has given an excellent performance in this leaked film too. It is streaming on the OTT Plus platform from today (Oct-23),” he said.
When OTT Plus Syed spoke,
“If Cable Shankar watches a film and decides, then of course that film will be released on our OTT Plus platform. But there are many practical difficulties in releasing it on some other OTT platforms.
They expect a lot from the audience. Since M.S. Bhaskar is a National Award-winning actor, he is the selling point for this film. He was the one who was able to sell this film. There should be more films like this,” he said.
Producer Vetrichelvan speaks,
“It was when I went to America that I became more interested in Tamil. There is a thousand pages of work behind the creation of a 100-page book. He does a lot of research before writing a story to that extent. He even publishes background stories as a book. When his Vekkai novel Asuran was made into a film, he was not completely satisfied. Therefore, while filming this leaked novel, we have kept only his writing and dialogues in it without changing anything. The leaked film should be a lesson for those between the ages of 16 and 21. It was a real surprise and shock to me that M.S. Bhaskar agreed to act in this film. But he agreed to act in this film out of the respect he had for Poomani sir. He even slept in the cowshed on the set. That is why he is being sought after for a National Award,” he said.
Actor M.S. Bhaskar speaks,
“When it comes to Karisal writers, the first ones who come to mind are K. Rajanarayanan and Poomani. When director Varadhan told me that I should act in Poomani’s Kasivu novel, that’s why I immediately agreed. I really liked the village where this shooting took place. So when I got some time, I slept in the cowshed for a while.
For me, I want to act for profit as well. I want to act for soul satisfaction. The Kasivu movie is a movie that I acted for soul satisfaction. Heaven and hell are not after we die. It is right here. The mistakes we have made will haunt us till the end. We should keep apologizing for them. Not everyone can change their minds by watching such a movie. The reason is that no matter how many laws have been passed, crimes are happening more now than before. Give me good characters like this. I will continue to improve my acting. I will talk about the writings of writer Poomani sir. “Acting is like getting another National Award for me,” he said.
Director Varadhan speaks,
“Rather than saying that I directed the film Kasivu, Kasivu directed me. When I met the writer Poomani sir, he gave me three short stories. I am also a writer like him. We initially decided that we should not direct the stories he gave us as short films but as an anthology film. But since that did not work out, we have selected the novel Kasivu from the three and directed it first. We can say that we have compiled four stories written by Poomani sir under the name Karunchei Kathagal, like Nansai and Punsai, and this is the first film out of them.
In Malayalam, M.D. Vasudevan Nair’s stories were released under the name Manoratham with a huge budget and big stars in the lead roles. There is no such situation here now. Just as I had in mind for the role of Ponnandi, Poomani sir also had M.S. Bhaskar in mind. At the shooting site of Kasivu, Poomani sir monitored the shooting like a Bigg Boss. He kept doing it. It was only because of M.S. Bhaskar’s cooperation and involvement that we completed this film in seven days,” he said.
Technical details
Production; Vetriselvan
Story, dialogues; Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer Poomani
Direction; Varadhan Senbhagavalli
Music; Jaya K Das
Cinematography; Murugan. G
Editor; Tamilkumaran. M
Singer; Krishnaraj
Public Relations; KSK Selva
