Mani Ratnam’s Kaatru Veliyidai, which stars Karthi and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead, is one of the most anticipated Tamil films of this year. Tipped to be an intense drama from the Roja filmmaker, cinematographer Ravi Varman has described the film as a wild love story.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle, he said, “It is a wild love story made on an epic scale — and a celebration of love, and is an inspiration. We worked for 52 days on the film and our interactions were only, ‘Yes, sir’ or ‘No, sir’ for the most part! We prepare well before going for the shoot. He would give me a lot of references and his vision is very clear.”
On working with the auteur, Varman can’t stop gushing about the energy level with which he works. “He cannot sit in one place! Like a 16-year-old boy, he oversees every aspect of his film on the sets. His energy levels are amazing, even when we were shooting in difficult and hard terrains — and sometimes in the freezing cold of places like Kulu Manali, Ladakh, Ooty, remote areas in Kashmir, etc.”
Varman’s last Tamil film was Vijay-starrer Villu in 2009. Talking about the absence from Kollywood, he said, “It doesn’t matter whether I do Hindi or Tamil. Wherever my work is explored, I am there. That’s why I was busy with Bollywood movies.”
(Content provided by Digital Native)