’96, starring Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan, will be an intense romantic drama.At a press meet for the film, Vijay Sethupathi confessed that the response to the film’s promotional material and music makes him very nervous. “Everything started with Prem and now I’m happy to be working on a film like this. This is a story that is straight from Prem’s heart. When I was about to hear the script from him, I was very nervous. Now, after seeing the hype around it, I’m even more nervous.”
The actor also took the opportunity to address reports that Income tax officials had conducted a raid at his Chennai home. He dismissed the reports as false and said:
“This is fake news. There was no raid in my home and office in Chennai. But I have absolutely no problem with this as it has become a trend of sorts to talk all sorts of rubbish that go viral. The income tax officials made a routine visit to my home and conducted a survey. That’s it.”
Debut director Prem Kumar (who has previously worked as a cinematographer on Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom) said that he found it very easy to work on the film.
“Usually people say that working on the first film will be hard. But I did not feel like that at all. I found the whole experience very easy and this is because every person who worked on the film are people I met while working as an assistant in the film industry. While working for ’96, all I wanted was to give them a good memory as the film itself is based on memories.”
The leads – Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan, play former classmates who graduated from school in the year 1996. The movie follows them as they reconnect and share memories of their time together.
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Art director Vinodh Rajkumar, speaking at the event, said that the film’s portrayal of love will strike a chord with the audience. “When Prem anna approached me for the film, he told me that it is a love subject. I didn’t know that it will be such an emotional love story. I’m sure everyone will enjoy the film. Vijay (Sethupathi) anna usually takes on mass roles but this film is different,” he said.
Trisha, who essays the role of Janu in ’96, said that this role was a very unique one in her filmography. “I have never played such a role in my life. I have never come across such a role in my life. I can say that we didn’t need to act in this movie. It requires more than that. We had to actually be those characters, in order to bring about the effect that Prem Kumar had in mind. If we acted, then that effect wouldn’t have come about.”
Scheduled to release on October 4, the film has Janakaraj, Devadarshini, Bagavathi Perumal in important roles. Music for the film has been composed by Govind Menon. Nandagopal of Madras Enterprises finances the movie.