National Award-winning Tamil actor 'Chiyaan' Vikram's Thangalaan will be kicking off the proceedings for Tamil cinema in a grand manner as a Republic Day release on January 26, 2024. The upcoming film directed by Pa. Ranjith featuring music by G. V. Prakash Kumar had its teaser launch event held in Chennai earlier today, which saw the cast and the crew interact with the media. At the Thangalaan teaser launch event, Pa. Ranjith opened up on the journey of the making of the ambitious period drama set during the pre-Independence era, while also sharing Vikram's dedication for his role in the film.
Speaking about Vikram's hard work and effort for his role in Thangalaan at the teaser launch event, Pa. Ranjith said, "He's an artistic actor. Despite having done many commercial films, I have always seen him as an artistic actor. I saw value in him and was waiting eagerly to work with him. After Sarpatta Parambarai, when I decided to make a period drama film, I had the belief that he would take the film to the next level with his performance. Usually, before I start a film, I do character sketches and drawings to present a look at the character. After that, I took some photos and gave them to him. Later, he completely transformed into that character and arrived at the shooting spot. Generally, I put in a lot of effort and draw sketches and make corrections with the artiste. But, for the first time, he came over and gave me many choices to choose from, and I see this effort from him as a dedication to the character by an artiste. I didn't think of it as hard work, but more of a commitment."
Pa. Ranjith further spoke about Vikram's dedication after suffering an injury during the shooting of Thangalaan and said, "After he got hurt in an accident and sustained a fracture to his ribs, he wasn't able to work for nearly a month. There was a stunt sequence to be shot. Usually, I tell Stunner Sam about what I want. I'm extremely selfish when it comes to making cinema, but will appear cool on the outside. I try not to put anybody through any difficulties in getting the job done. I also keep going for several takes. And, one day, we were filming and he was performing non-stop for me till the evening. I knew that there were a few shots he wouldn't be able to do, but I would ask him whether he would still do them and he too would agree to my request. Our focus was to make this character as believable as possible. And, in that process, there are several challenges and that is what filmmaking is all about. In that regard, I see Vikram sir as an artiste who applies himself to the art of filmmaking."
Watch Pa. Ranjith's full speech at the Thangalaan teaser launch event below:
