A. R. Murugadoss' next big production venture August 16 1947 starring Gautham Karthik and directed by his former assistant NS Ponkumar is gearing up for its theatrical release on April 7 and the blockbuster Tamil filmmaker is going full out in getting the word out about the film centered around India's independence. With less than a week for the release of the period action drama, Murugadoss sat down with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, to discuss about the upcoming film, while also opening up about the plans he had long back to do a film with Tamil superstars 'Thalapathy' Vijay and Ajith Kumar.
After talking about his plans for making a film starring Ajith and Vijay nearly a decade back, A. R. Murguadoss explained why the possibilities of such a project happening are not plausible. He stated, "To be honest, it's not possible. If we do a film with Ajith sir, it's a business. If we do a film with Vijay sir, it's a business. If they both come together (for a film), it doesn't mean it will be double the business. You'll only end up wasting their dates. When an Ajith sir's fan pays Rs. 200 to go watch him in a film, he will expect to see him for the majority duration on the screen. It's the same with Vijay sir's fan, who will want to witness a bigger screen presence of his on-screen idol. Maintaining such a balance is very difficult. It's better to make a two separate films with each of them."
Upon being queried whether he still has the script he had planned for the Vijay-Ajith film, Murugadoss said, "It's undergone a few changes. I've had an idea to make it with a single hero playing dual roles. Secondly, both of them (Vijay and Ajith) have grown exponentially in the industry and it's not possible to do that film with them now." He added, "If I look at the script again and if it excites me like it did back then, I will know whether I can pursue it further."
Watch A. R. Murugadoss in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan below:
