Mention Vikram K. Kumar and Tamil film buffs will immediately recall his psychological thriller ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ with Madhavan. His last film in Telugu, ‘Manam’, featuring three generations of the Akkineni family (the late Nageshwara Rao, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya) was a big hit.
Kumar returns with a Tamil-Telugu bilungual, 24, releasing on May 5 in the UAE.
What makes this film so anticipated one is not just the idea of its star Suriya playing three roles, but its genre, one not been much experimented with in Indian cinema.
24 is a science-fiction thriller with a time-travel story, says Kumar, who grew up watching time-travel stories from Hollywood with Back to the Future leaving an indelible mark in his mind.
“In my quest to experiment with various genres, I decided on making 24. It’s not an easy script and a sci-fi brings its own challenges.”
Graphics, production design and make-up were the main aspects that needed attention to make them a part of the narrative. In want of good technicians, the team worked in Mumbai with production design duo Amit Ray and Subrato, and noted make-up artist Clover Wootton, well-known in Bollywood.
However, the story of 24 is set in Chennai. Suriya plays three characters — Sethuraman, the wheelchair-bound elderly scientist, Mani, a watch mechanic and Athreya, the villain.
For the role of Sethuraman, Suriya was up at 5am to get his prosthetic make-up done. Shooting would roll by nine.
“People will love Sethuraman and Mani,” says Suriya, adding that it is Athreva, the character with an aggressive streak and negative shades, who brings action.
“Some people want that.”
How was it playing Athreya?
“As actors we draw from our own experiences in life and I have also been evil sometimes, Karthi [his younger brother, also a star] will vouch for that,” the actor says with a laugh.
Samantha and Nithya Menon play the leading women. Menon performs the Telugu version of the song ‘Aararoo,’ sung by Shakthisree Gopalan in Tamil. A.R. Rahman’s music is already making waves online.
“Not many are aware that Samantha can play a good comedian,” reveals director Kumar. “Her comedy timing [is] wonderful.”
The supporting cast of 24 includes Saranya Ponvannan (playing Suriya’s mother), Mohan V. Raman and comedian Satyan. Thiru has handled cinematography.
“We wanted to make a time-travel film with an Indian narrative in Disney format — something the family can watch with their kids, something not preachy though,” says Suriya who has produced 24 under his banner 2D Entertainment.
“24 will give them this experience. It has got a gadget but the gadget is not the entire film, only a part of it.”
“There is fantasy, adventure and people who want to watch sensible cinema will like it. It has a right mix for everybody,” says the Singam star.
