Breaking Barriers: The Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe Press Meet Report

Silverscreen goes to the Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe press meet.. 

Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe‘s press meet was all about the ladies, and we liked it that way. They set the tone for what was to come. And when the trailer of the movie was screened, each star’s appearance was greeted with hoots and whistles by the women. Much to the surprise of everybody present. And soon enough, people began joining in, for the ladies’ delight was infectious.

“We’re all incredibly happy today. We finished the shooting ten days early and saved the producer a lot of money. I’m very proud of my team for helping me achieve this,” said an elated Lakshmy Ramakrishnan. The character artiste and show host, who debuted with Aarohanam has gone all out for her second film, NVM. “We consciously decided to break the small budget filmmaker tag that Aarohanam gave me and my team. So we set out to do this project. It’s not a big film, budget wise. But in terms of locations and such, it’s a huge, huge film.”

Pia Bajpai and Shabeer, the leads of the film, endeared themselves to the audience with their sudden attack of nerves. Pia, being the veteran that she is, did pull herself together and made a short speech. Newcomer Shabeer, though, found it a little difficult to get over his stage fear, but with the encouragement of his director and his peers, he began to speak beautifully. “The story of how I got this part is quite funny. Lakshmy ma’m had seen a poster somewhere and decided that she wanted the model featured in that ad as the hero. So she sent for me. Only after she met me, did she realise that I was not the guy she’d seen. But something about me sparked her interest and she took me on.”

In the film, Shabeer plays a lorry driver, and he actually learnt how to drive the vehicle for his role. Said Lakshmy, “Thambi Ramaiah had to be in the scenes where Shabeer drives, and he was so scared. He kept telling me that he was praying to all gods when he was in the vehicle.” Shabeer must have done it right, for Thambi Ramaiah was there at the event – looking quite hearty. And sporting the same cap he’s been wearing for the last five months. “My only problem with the film was that it was shot during some of the hottest months. It took a toll on all of us, but Lakshmy led by example. She was never tired, and looking at her, we also persevered. This is quite literally our sweat and hard work you see onscreen.”

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Lakshmy became quite animated when Viji Chandrasekhar came on-stage. And, the best friends put their five minutes to good use by praising each other. Lakshmy professed her love for Viji and received a new sobriquet in return – as that of the ‘Iron Lady’. “After Balachander, Bharathiraja and others of their ilk, I have found the same comfort level while working with Lakshmy. She may only be a film old, but she knows how to get the nuances of acting right.”

Lucia girl Sruti Hariharan turned up for the event looking every inch the Tamizh ponnu. She had a very good reason for this. “Even though I have only a small role to play here, this is still my Tamil debut and I wanted to make a very good impression on the audience.”

Madley Blues has come up with a very lively album for the movie. “We made sure to incorporate and mix the kind of sounds that you’ve not heard before. For the re-recording, we have stayed true to what the story demanded, and we are satisfied with the output.”

The music of Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe was released on the 25th of this month. The film stars Shabeer and Pia in lead roles, and is produced by the Medimix group.

Highlights:

• AL Alagappan, who plays the role of a corrupt MP in the film, almost revealed the plot while talking about it on-stage. Thankfully, Lakshmy, Pia and Sruti managed to drown his words by making a lot of noise.
• Lakshmy also thanked her husband for “putting up” with her for over thirty years. Quite a cute moment this.
• Best pals: We spotted Pia showing AL Alagappan something on her diamond-studded phone. He seemed quite taken with it too.
• Shabeer is a league cricket player and is an expert at yoga and martial arts. He also looks good in pink.
• Sruti Hariharan, who also looks great in pink, was a former neighbour of Lakshmy. “It’s a small small world!” we overheard her telling people.
• We spotted Shabeer asking Lakshmy for subjects to talk about on-stage. “You can talk about anything. Anything!” she said.