Report by Priya Saravana
A good twenty minutes before the scheduled time, Kalaipuli S Thanu and director Pa Ranjith descended the opulent staircase at Le Royal Meridian, Chennai for the Kabali success meet. While Pa Ranjith was striking poses for the cameramen, S Thanu was rather sternly scanning all the arrangements. All seemed well apparently. He lost a bit of his edge.
The reporters and cameramen were all ushered into a hall generously adorned with Kabali posters. While the cast and crew were seen exchanging pleasantries, there was no any sign press meet starting. People started to wonder if they were all waiting for the thailaivar to come. “There is a 50-50 chance. He might come,” one reporter loudly wondered. Another reporter who seemed to be well into industry know-how, haughtily replied, “He has to be at the AVM Saravanan event. I don’t think he will make it”. But the crowd didn’t lose hope. Every time a flurry of activity, – be it cameramen rushing out to take pictures, or someone hurriedly walking in – people craned their necks to see if it was Rajinikanth. But he did not appear.
The event started with a steady stream of epithets such as ‘epic’, ‘historical’, ‘magical’ et al attributed to the movie. S Thanu was invited first to address the crowd, but he politely refused, saying he would address them at the end.
Director Ranjith addressed the crowd first. He started off with thanking Soundarya Rajinikanth who had been a source of great support. He moved on to thank actor Rajinikanth for his interest in portraying the sensitive issues the movie dealt with. Initially, they had decided to do away with the climax. But Rajinikanth insisted that the climax be retained. He also added that he was initially skeptical of working with Thanu, who was apparently known for his tight hold. But director Ranjith enjoyed a free rein over this project. Calling it a collective project, he attributed the success to every single technician who had worked on the team. Thanking the media for the positive comments, he also acknowledged the negative comments, saying the society has assigned him certain responsibilities, and that he accepts all comments as their “feedback”. He ended with his characteristic, ‘Magizchi’ (this will not be the last time you’ll hear this in the event)
Following Pa Ranjith, Murali G, the cinematographer of the movie took the podium. In a brief ‘thank you’ address, he thanked Pa Ranjith for the opportunity (a very repetitive occurrence in the event). Santhosh Narayanan, the music director said that he was initially very nervous when he signed the project. After working on the now successful ‘Nerupuda‘ track, he went to play the track to Rajinikanth. He was willing to leave the project if Rajinikanth was not satisfied with the work. A beaming Rajinikanth put to rest all his doubts. He also appreciated the way Ranjith has been handling the comments and criticism. Not used to this kind of unprecedented fanfare, Kabali was an entirely new experience for music director Santhosh Narayan.
Editor Praveen K L wielded the megaphone expressing his absolute delight for having worked in this project and thanked Pa Ranjith for the opportunity. Pa Ranjith made a sudden reappearance at this point, thanking Thanu’s son, Paranthaman for his unwavering support. Art Director Ramalingam followed him. In a brief mishap of names, the anchor addressed him as Mahalingam. A rather miffed Ramalingam started the address repeating his name and thanked Pa Ranjith for the opportunity. By now, everyone had got the pattern here. Taking a shot at the reporters, he said, “It seems you guys are aware only of a few art directors like Sabu Cyril and Thota Tharani and completely oblivious of the rest”. A senior reporter jumped to defend his fellowmen saying his work was so exceptional and realistic that he thought the film didn’t have an art director. His ego soothed, the beaming art director thanked the reporter. He added that the helipad in the rooftop climax scene in Kabali was his handy work.
Identically dressed twin stunt choreographers Anbu and Arivu followed him. Humouring the art director, they brought special attention to Ramalingam, heaping praises on him, eliciting a laugh or two. Following them, Attakathi Dinesh, Kalaiarasan, Mime Gopi, Rythvika, ‘Nerupuda’ lyricist/singer Arunraja Kamaraj, lyricist Vivek (Ulagam Oruvanukka), actor Vishwanath, ‘Tiger’ Johnny, actor John Vijay, singer Shwetha Mohan, VJ Lingesh, sound designer Ruben, singer Rohit Fernandes (Hindi version of Ulagam Oruvanukka), singer Ganesh (Veera Thurandhara in Telugu), singer Ananthu (Maya nadhi) and costume designer Niranjini took the stage in quick succession.
Finally, Kalaipuli S Thanu took the centre stage. Breaking into one of the rare smiles of the evening, he started with an anecdote, talking about the superstar’s first film in a lead role, Bairavi. Moving to Kabali, he said the superstar called him and expressed his delight after watching the film. Thanu, arriving at his house the next day, saw the superstar was in high spirits and said that the movie was a mixture of both Thalapathi and Nayagan. He apparently used an exaggerated hand motion signifying grandeur and said, “Appadi Iruku“(it’s simply like that). Thanu also brought attention to the recent special screening of Kabali to writer Cho. “While we approached Cho to watch Endhiran and Sivaji, he was least interested. But for Kabali, he himself expressed his desire to watch the movie”. “You have not acted, but lived as Kabali“, he told Rajinikanth.
After director SP Muthuraman, Thanu called Pa Ranjith his favourite director. He also expressed his desire to work with Ranjith in another film. Thanu, extremely happy over the financial outcome, said the movie has collected 6 crores in 6 days in Chennai alone. Just when he ended his address, a senior reporter piped in asking, “Sir, what about writer Vairamuthu’s comments?”. The PRO immediately shushed him, while Thanu turned his back to the reporter and walked away.
Highlights:
Singer Shwetha Mohan’s absolutely mesmerising rendition of the song, ‘Maya Nadhi’.
Singer Ananthu’s equally captivating rendition of the same song.
Rohith Fernandes’ peppy, albeit nervous, singing of the song ‘Ulagam Oruvanukka’ (Hindi version)
The repeated, yet jovial mentions of the art director by the cast and crew placating the peeved art director.
The anchor’s not so polite request to keep the speeches short, owing to time constraints. VJ Lingesh, who immediately took the stage after this, very kindly obliged her, just saying “Nanri. Magizchi”
Kalaipuli S Thanu’s stern order to the agitated crowd to “keep it down”.
Actor John Vijay’s anecdote:
Actor John Vijay when he first went to meet Pa Ranjith for the audition, was completely unaware of the director or the movie. He apparently swaggered into the studio, wearing shades and putting on airs. Pa Ranjith excitedly welcomed him saying he looked exactly the way he had him in his mind. Still unaware of who he was talking to, John Vijay nonchalantly dismissed it, saying he had already committed the looks for another film. Ranjith added that he would look very good alongside superstar Rajinikanth. A completely taken aback John Vijay, infusing some tone of humility asked who he was talking to. After he realised it was Pa Ranjith and he was being roped in for Kabali, it was Ranjith’s turn to throw shade. However, Ranjith just laughed away his apology.
