Kaaka Muttai fame director Manikandan, who is getting ready with his next project Kadaisi Vivasayi, which has a 70-year-old in the titular role of a farmer, has revealed that he had originally approached superstar Rajinikanth with the offer to play the lead role in the film. In his recent interview to a Tamil daily, Manikandan said he felt Rajinikanth would be apt to play the protagonist who swears by farming. “If Rajini sir plays such a character, you can’t even imagine the kind of impact it will have on the audiences about farming. I pitched the story to him but he didn’t show interest, so I went ahead and cast someone else.”
The film features Vijay Sethupathi in a cameo. Having worked together in Aaandavan Kattalai, Manikandan felt Sethupathi’s presence will add lot of weight to the film. “Vijay Sethupathi plays Ramaiah, a Lord Murugan devotee. His role demanded a lot of physical work, like climbing hills. If he was playing a hero, I would have told him to do this without hesitation. But I felt bad to tell him to do all this when he is only playing a supporting character. But, Sethupathi being who he is, he did all that which was essential for the character,” Manikandan was quoted in a report by in.com.
Kadaisi Vivasayi has been produced by Eros International. On bankrolling the project, Eros had said in a statement: “It is really sad to know that Cola factories and corporate industries are playing hide and seek with farmers’ lives. Farmer suicides are most rampant in India. They are the starting point of our entire food chain but the occupation in itself is on the verge of becoming obsolete. When Manikandan narrated Kadaisi Vivasayi to us, we knew that the film will hit the right chords with all audiences, regardless of any age, gender or class.”
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