Clean humour and family entertainers are Tamil director Radhamohan’s signature features.
In Abhiyum Naanum, he talked about a father’s possessive love for his only daughter. And his earlier film, Mozhi is counted among actress Jyotika’s career best, where she played a hearing and speech impaired young woman, Archana. It fetched Jyotika the Tamil Nadu state award for her brilliant performance.
Radhamohan is back with Brindhavanam, another story pivoted around a speech- and hearing-impaired individual, Kannan.
Arulnithi plays Kannan, a hairstylist who is a fan of Tamil actor Vivek. Vivek plays himself in this movie.
“This is an entirely different story from Mozhi,” clarifies Radhamohan. “And the similarity ends with the lead players being challenged.”
Radhamohan found the spark for this story while researching for Mozhi when he interacted with several hearing- and speech-impaired people.
He felt Arulnithi with his bright smile and innocent look was well suited to play Kannan.
“Arulnithi has played tough characters in his films, but this side of him has not been explored,” added Radhamohan.
“It will be an important film in his career,” he added.
Arulnithi underwent training for a month in sign language and said that the story progresses to reveal the relationship between Kannan and Vivek.
He was a little anxious about sharing screen space with the veteran comedian known for his quick repartees but soon found Vivek to be a wonderful co-actor who gave him his space and made him comfortable.
Tanya is paired opposite Arulnithi. She plays Sandhya, whose father owns a supermarket in Ooty, where the story is happening.
Tanya added that as in every Radhamohan film where the woman characters are given equal importance along with the male leads, Sandhya is no different.
“She has a significant place in the story,” she said.
Tanya also trained in sign language.
“Brindhavanam is a feel-good story that encompasses love, emotions and the importance of relationships. It’s something the audience will relate too,” assured Radhamohan.
Vishal Chandrasekhar has scored music. Cinematography is by M.S. Vivekanand.
Brindhavanam produced by Shan Sudharshan releases on May 26 in India.
