Jayam Ravi’s experiments in busting his good guy image began with Peranmai, where he showed his potential to transform into a completely different character.
The experiment continued with Aadhi Bhagawan and last year, Ravi’s Thani Oruvan emphasised the performer in him as did roles in Bhooloham, Miruthan and Bogan.
So when director A. L. Vijay offered him the role of a tribal person in Vanamagan, Ravi was not going to let it go. Ravi calls it the best action film of his career so far.
Vijay who is known for his films like Madrasapattinam, Deiva Thirumagal and Saivam had two scripts ready for him — one where the tribal character has dialogues and the second with no dialogues. Ravi preferred the second script. It challenged him to explore himself better.
Vanamagan is set on a pristine island along the coast of the Indian Ocean, where a tribal settlement thrives. What happens when one among them arrives in the city and falls in love with a young woman, Kavya?
Bollywood actress Sayeesha marks her Tamil cinema debut with Vanamagan. She is Kavya, the daughter of a rich man. Prakash Raj plays her father.
While dwelling on the harmonious and coexisting relationship that the tribal people share with nature, Vanamagan raises a question about who is the real human being.
Ravi says in our civilised state today, we seem to have left behind many human values, but they continue to exist among the tribes.
ACTION DIRECTOR STUNT SILVA’S NEW CHALLENGE
Stunt Silva, action director of 160 films, found a new challenge with Vanamagan.
For research, the team travelled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as well as the forests of Vietnam and Thailand. Observing and understanding tribal behaviour in Andamans and studying the terrain of the forests was a must before filming.
The team shot in the forests of Thalakonam for around a month where basic amenities were minimal. From swinging across tree branches Tarzan-like and attempting daredevil stunts in the interiors of forests, Ravi’s physical prowess were put to test.
“Ravi was willing to do everything and never complained,” says Silva. “We could not attach any harness on him either since his costume was a bare minimum. He did everything live after training.”
“In regular films, choreographing an action sequence involves kicks and punches thrown in but in the case of a tribal, we had to come up with something different.”
Look out for a scene involving a tiger fight. That is one of the highlight of Vanamagan.”
A MINUTE WITH ART DIRECTOR JAYASHREE LAKSHMINARAYANAN
If Charlie’s room from the Malayalam film ‘Charlie’ still comes to mind years later, then the credit goes to art director Jayashree Lakshminarayanan. The room reflected the personality of the enigmatic Charlie and kept Tessa, who comes to live there, wondering about Charlie. Lakshminarayanan won the Kerala State Award last year for her work in this film.
As the art director for Vanamagan, Lakshminarayanan was required to work on two sets that were as alike as chalk and cheese. One was a city structure to be erected in Chennai, the home of the leading lady Kaavya, a rich man’s daughter. It boasts of the latest in technology. The other was to erect a tribal village in the forests of Thalakonam around which the story of Vanamagan is centred.
“While the city set had a classy look, there was no life to it, unlike the tribal village which carries a soul,” shared Lakshminarayanan.
She used wood and leaves from the trees around to build the tribal village. Earth tones had to be kept in mind and primary colours reflecting the flora around was used. Colours that might stick out as a sore thumb were a clear no. It had to reflect their coexistence with nature and their trust in nature.
“We created weapons, boats, vessels and utility products for the tribals using materials from the forest,” adds Lakshminarayanan, who trained earlier under art directors Rajeevan and the four-time National Award-winner Sabu Cyril.
“Activities for different age groups living in the hamlet had to be planned; something for the children, women and the elderly.”
When Cyclone Vardah struck the city of Chennai last year, the set she had erected for Kavya was demolished, and then rebuilt. Living in the forests for several days with the fear of wild animals lurking around was not a comfortable feeling either.
“Keeping us going was the great teamwork and this has been a wonderful learning experience,” says Lakshminarayanan who is also working on director Vijay’s next film, Karu.
On the anvil is her next Malayalam film to be directed by this year’s Kerala State Award winning-director, Vidhu Vincent. Her earlier works in Malayalam were for films Double Barrel, Nee-Na and Jacobinte Swargarajyam.
“That is going to be an all-women team and I am looking forward to it.”
Don’t miss it!
Vanamagan releases in the UAE on June 22.
