It is 3 pm and the team of Adanga Maru has already shifted to a second location on GST Road for the day. But the entire unit looks cheerful and the cast and crew are seen running around getting the props for the scene at a swanky little pub in a city hotel. A unit member tells us, “We could have erected a set of a pub and shot, but the team felt it would increase the budget and instead chose this place for the shoot.”
While the atmosphere artistes take their positions, the director of the film Karthik Thangavel joins us, “We started the day with an important scene that was shot in Binny Mills near the airport and wrapped it up by noon. We have started the shoot here a while ago and it will go on till 8 pm.” Art director Ilaiyaraja has a brief discussion with the director, who continues, “Today, as you could see, we are shooting a pub scene which is one of the climax sequences where Jayam Ravi walks in and kidnaps the villain. You will know the significance of this scene when you watch the film.” He leaves for the shot and requests the artistes to maintain silence and instructs them what the scene is all about and asks the naagra sound mixer to play the music.
As the artistes start dancing to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You, the cinematographer of the film Sathyan Sooryan zooms in the camera to the villains Bharath Raj, Rajaa and Vijay Victor. Bharath Raj tells us, “I shot for nearly 20 days for the film and I cannot divulge much about the role. In this scene, I sit with my friends and take a selfie video in a pub and that is when Jayam Ravi kidnaps one of us. Apart from this there is a fight scene left to be shot and patchwork before I wrap up my portions for the film.”
Wearing a black T-shirt, and sporting a beard, Jayam Ravi walks into the sets and greets us. The actor plays a cop in the film for the third time after Thani Oruvan and Bogan. “Thani Oruvan was about a no-nonsense cop and in Bogan, though I played a cop, it had its own commercial elements. However, Adanga Maru will show yet another dimension of a cop and is a well-etched character,” he says. Karthik points to Ravi and says, “It is because of his cooperation, the film has shaped up well. We shot in live locations on Anna Salai and Anna Nagar with candid cameras.”
Jayam Ravi immediately reminisces a particular scene and tells us, “We had to shoot in Anna Nagar and wondered who would give us the permission. I immediately called my bestie Jammy (Arya) and asked if we could shoot in front of his house. He said, machi nee veetuku ulla kooda shoot panniko da. Naan oorla illa aana veetla arrange panna sollidren (Buddy, you can even shoot inside my house. I’m not in town but I will ask my folks to get things done for you). Though we shot in front of his house, Jammy’s mom treated me like her own son and cooked food for me. That is something memorable.” Though the heroine of the film, Raashi Khanna had completed her portions for the film, she later spoke to us. “My role in Adanga Maru will stay in the audience’s memories. As you would have seen, the director of the film Karthik, is an energy pack, who wouldn’t stay in one place for more than a minute. He keeps running around and ensures everything is in place for the scene,” she remarks.
Talking about the shooting schedules, Ravi adds, “We have a few more days of shoot left that includes a song, which will be shot abroad.” Produced by his mother-in-law Sujatha Vijayakumar, Ravi says that he never interferes in the production part. “If they ask me to go for shoot, I go. Naan mathematics la vera romba weak (I am not good at mathematics). I only give creative inputs and I am happy about it. Moreover, watch out for an emotional connect in Adanga Maru,” he concludes as the team heads for a long day.
