Whoever heard of a revenge tale laden with humour and free of malice?
Malayalam cinema’s answer to that was the much feted Maheshinte Prathikaram that was marked by a nuanced performance by Fahad Faasil. It fetched the Indian National Award and Kerala state award for Dileesh Pothan on his directorial debut and screenwriter Syam Puskaran.
For those who missed this hilarious story, director Priyadarshan is ready with the Tamil remake of the movie, titled Nimir. It is his 93rd film.
Udhayanidhi Stalin reprises Faasil’s role from the original. He plays Selvam, a photographer managing his own studio in a small town. Selvam’s plain life is toppled when he is strongly embarrassed in a situation and he then swears not to wear his slippers until he avenges his insult.
Udhay is yet to get over the excitement of working with the legendary director. He remembers being surprised when Priyadarshan offered him this role. On the first day of shooting, he was nervous.
“I was also apprehensive about my clean shaven look that Priyan sir insisted for Selvam,” added Stalin.
Priyadarshan taught him how to behave like Selvam.
“He demonstrates every scene for his actors and never took unnecessary shots. With the story running through his mind, he probably edited it there,” said Stalin, who walked barefoot for twenty days for this character.
More acting lessons were in store for Stalin under veteran director J Mahendran who plays Selvam’s father. The septuagenarian never retreated to his caravan after his shots.
“He will observe the monitor and compliment the actors on a good performance. And keeps himself abreast of the latest. I was surprised when he spoke about my films.”
Stalin romances two heroines on-screen. Parvathy Nair reprises Anusree’s character from the original and Namitha Pramod takes on the role played by Aparna Balamurali. Samudrakani has written the dialogues, besides playing the villain. The supporting cast includes MS Bhaskar and Karunas.
Nimir releases in the UAE on January 25.
