Southern Spice: Paradesi regained

His debut film, Sethu, was his first brush with national fame when this tragic love story brought home the Best Regional Film award.

Nandha, his second, was a poignant tale of an ex-convict trying to integrate into society. It was a hit and earned him recognition at the state level. His third, the critically acclaimed Pithamagan, gained Tamil actor Vikram his first national award.

Naan Kadavul, Bala’s fourth film put him once again on the national podium when he won a Best Director, award.

Avan Ivan was a box office success in 2012 and is remembered for the brilliant performances of actors Arya and Vishal, especially the latter.

His upcoming film, Paradesi, has been appreciated by Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap, who tweeted after watching it at a private screening, “Absolutely blown away. Bala’s best yet.”

Kashyap will be releasing the film through his company, Phantom Films Pvt. Ltd, with English and Hindi subtitles, in north and central India.

Paradesi, is set in pre-independent India and is based on real life events that occurred in the 1930s. The story is based on the lives of tea plantation workers in the Madras Presidency during the British era and features Atharvaa as the protagonist with Vedhika C.Kumar and Dhanshikaa as the leading women.

Bala, who prefers his films to do the talking, had just this to say: “Paradesi will make you pause before drinking tea.”

Paradesi has been shot in Salur, Manamadurai, Munnar, Talaiyar and the forests of Kannakarai in the Theni district. The music score is by G.V. Prakash. Cinematography is by Chezhiyan.

tabloid! caught up with Atharvaa, Vedhika and Dhansika.

Atharvaa:

The Atharvaa in the posters of Paradesi, is a far cry from the Atharvaa we know. The Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal, actor agrees that he is beyond recognition in the film. His character is so unlike him.

Atharvaa plays a tribal man from the 1930s.

“I had to lose around 10kg and also get a well-tanned look for the character,” he reveals. “When I saw [images] of the film I could not recognise myself. It was a good learning experience and this film will always remain special no matter how many films I do.”

On working with Bala, he added: “People say it is tough working with him. But I found that Bala sir gives actors so much freedom that he gets the best out of them.”

About his co-stars he said: “Vedhika and Dhansika are lovely. They are good performers and working with them was comfortable.”

Atharvaa, who once aspired to become a pilot, says he was always drawn towards films and now he is more keen to play meaningful roles.

Off the set he enjoys playing football — a love that goes back to the days when he was part of the school team.

Box:

Vedhika:

“It is not every day that you are offered a Bala film. It was a challenging role and Bala sir transformed me beyond recognition. I play a 17-year-old tribal girl from the 1940s and Atbara’s love interest in the film. Watching me on the monitor after the shots was an emotional moment as I could not recognise myself; all I saw was the character. That is the joy of working with Bala sir. He extracts the best out of you and instils the soul of the character in your performance.”

Dhansika

“I feel on top of the world seriously. It is a dream come true working with this legend and I am proud to be a part of Paradesi. Like they say, he is magical. He emotes and demonstrates every character for his actors and makes sure that his actors are comfortable in the skin of the character. Bala will sit with us and describe our characters in detail before we go for the shots. He looks into every detail of the character and even does the hair styling for us himself. He is caring too.

“I play a tribal woman, Maragatham, who hates to live. She hardly smiles. This is a powerful role and I can’t reveal more. For this role I had to do without juices and loose 4.5kgs to portray a starved look. My character is going to be a surprise for the audience. Although this is my sixth film, I am looking forward to its release as if it was my first.”