Tamil filmmaker Arun Matheswaran's third directorial Captain Miller starring two-time National Award-winning actor Dhanush has opened in cinemas worldwide taking a sensational opening everywhere. In that light, Arun Matheswaran 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 the freedom he had working in Captain Miller, while also explaining the basis for adding songs in the Dhanush's period action drama.
Speaking about Captain Miller, Arun Matheswaran said, "As for the freedom in doing the film as I want to, I have made this as I had thought about it. Obviously, there will be constraints keeping in mind my track record since I've made films that are not popular films. They're not commercially big films. There are small films that become big hits, but my films aren't in that zone either. So, for me to mount a big project like this, be it Dhanush or producer Sathya Jyothi sir, there will be a pressure and constraint since I've not done a big film on this scale or have tasted any big commercial success." He added, "But, at the end of the day, we all fought for the film and decided that this film requires this much money irrespective of what the director has done before, I think there was support on all fronts and there was no need for me to make any big compromises nor did I feel claustrophobic within that huge space. And, in a way, I've made this film as I had thought it out."
Arun Matheswaran also shed light on why he added songs in Captain Miller by saying, "I'm not too keen on dance numbers, but there was a situation in this film where there's a celebration and the by-product is the musical rights and that brings in the money. Saani Kaayidham had no songs. The songs were just like elements and were used like tools in Rocky. But, with (Captain Miller), when you have a big name like GV Prakash also involved, it has to do big numbers with the music labels. In a way, the money coming from its by-product is a helpful aspect."
Watch Arun Matheswaran in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan below:
