Tamil filmmaker R. Ravikumar's second film, Ayalaan, starring leading actor Sivakarthikeyan and featuring music by Academy Award-winning composer A. R. Rahman has opened in cinemas worldwide after a long delay. With the big-budget sci-fi film taking a stellar start in theatres, the Indru Netru Naalai director recently sat down for a candid conversation with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, to talk about his state of mind after the shooting on the Sivakarthikeyan film had come to stop during production.
Speaking about the struggles surrounding the delay of Ayalaan, R. Ravikumar said, "My feeling is that I didn't see this as a film. I never thought about this as a film or a product. I made this as a part of my life. I took it personally. Had I done many films and if this kind of a thing happened, I'd have had gathered the experience to handle it. But, for me, in my second film, when this struggle happened, and it was getting delayed, nothing seemed big to me. The only thought I had in my mind was to wait and get this film finished."
Elaborating further about the delay in completing Ayalaan and getting it released, R. Ravikumar stated, "I saw this practically and I knew what the reason was. I can't say anything about anyone. And, that is why I couldn't ask that question to myself. Practically when I know the reason and I have the answer to that question. It came down to me asking myself, 'Are you going to leave this or get this done?' I told myself, 'I will finish this.' We didn't know that the delay would be this long on the first day. There was a yearning that I wasn't able to show what I was making. There were times when I noticed in other films small elements that I had thought of showing for the first time in my film. But, whatever happens, from a practical standpoint, I didn't ask myself any questions."
R. Ravikumar further spoke about Ayalaan and said, "During this period of delay, I decided not to ask anybody about this. I would tell myself, 'We could have done it in a good way, but I'll get ready.' My focus was on to bring to reality everything I thought about in this film. I could have made another film, but I wanted a learning from this film. I was intent on finishing this film first and proceed to the next." He added, "I had the belief that this film will be completed. As I was able to see the reasons for this film's delay, I also had hope every now and then that it will be completed. I had the belief that we would finish this film with that hope."
Watch R. Ravikumar in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
