Director Vetrimaaran was vocal about his opinions at the roundtable conducted by Cinema Express. The director spoke on various topics including the violence in his recent release Viduthalai Part 1. He also talked about Vadivuelu’s performance in Mari Selvaraj’s Maamannan, and how actor-filmmaker Rohini expressed her disappointment with Viduthalai.
Vadivelu was a huge revelation in 2023. The comedian proved that he can be an incredible actor even in a sober role with Mari Selvaraj’s Maamannan. While Selvaraj was talking about how it was hard to make a comedian like Vadivelu act as a brooding politician, Vetrimaaran heaped praise on the actor. Though Vetri hasn’t worked with Vadivelu, he admitted to being a huge fan of him and his acting.
Vetrimaaran said, “While talking about Vadivelu, I rate him as one of the few original actors in Tamil cinema… in the league of Sivaji Ganesan and that lot. He doesn’t have a reference for his acting. He would say he grew up watching Nagesh Sir. But he hasn’t taken anything from Nagesh. Also, Vadivelu doesn’t have a proper educational background for acting. He is very original, and he has honed his skills over the years by himself. I have heard that even back in the day, he used to do great like the ‘paai (bed mat) scene’. Everyone knew he was a great actor, but he kept seeing himself as a comedian. And when we see the vulnerable side of comedians who make you laugh, we are touched more.”
The bed mat scene:
Violence in Viduthalai Part 1
When Vetrimaaran was asked if he thinks the violence in Viduthalai Part 1 was too much, he said, “I have received such criticism. But how I see things is that I have made a film and I think that I can show this to the world. I won’t let my 13-year-old daughter or my 8-year-old son to see it now. They can see it when they are 18. I haven’t asked them to even see Visaranai, because while we are growing up, we believe that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad. Let them learn the reality after growing up. Now, I don’t want them to see the kind of violence that is put upon the oppressed.”
The filmmaker added that two personalities reached out to him expressing their shock and disappointment in his films. “Director CS Amudhan said that ‘like everyone said the violence towards the woman in the climax was indulgent.'”
Mari Selvaraj interrupted and added, “There is this question about too much violence. Things are so much worse than what is shown in Viduthalai. As a director, he is not able to get past it. People tell me I couldn’t watch the scene in Pariyerum Perumal where the dad character is harassed. These are not made for people who already know what’s happening. These are for people who don’t. It is easy for people to just read it as news and pass by. If it is too much close your eyes. But even if you refuse to see it, that’s the truth. Just because you want to like it and be comfortable, the truth can’t be changed. The whole point of all the trouble is to tell this truth. If you have a problem with it, what else to do? If you say the violence is too much, I am just asking you ‘Where is the violence coming from?'”
Vetrimaaran added, “Someone asked writer Jeyakanthan how he writes about things like that. He replied, ‘I am worried that such horrible things are happening in the society. And you are just worried that I have written it as a story?'”
The Polladhavan director added that actor and filmmaker Rohini expressed her shock over Viduthalai Part 1. “The sensibility of the audience and the filmmaker sometimes is in alignment and sometimes it is not. I really respect if they feel it is more. Rohini sent me a message saying, ‘I did not expect you would treat the female body like this.’ I told her that I am sorry if it had offended her. I am open to criticism. I will never defend my film. I make my film, and I put it out. If it makes you feel something, it is yours.”
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