He is a hearing-impaired petty thief from Thenkasi and crosses the seas to Thailand to rescue his wife. And when this role is played by Vijay Sethupathi and directed by SU Arun Kumar of ‘Pannaiyarum Padminiyum’ fame, expectations are high.
Sethupathi and Kumar last worked together in ‘Sethupathi,’ an action thriller that was appreciated too.
The story was triggered by a newspaper report, said Kumar who has cast Sethupathi’s son Surya in his film.
“In fact, I had Surya in mind right from the scripting stage. It took some convincing to make him take the plunge,” said Kumar.
Kumar had approached other actors to play the petty thief, Thiru, but hit a dead end. That’s when Sethupathi decided to take on the role. Anjali is paired opposite Sethupathi. Sethupathi’s son Surya, a class 10 student, plays Thiru’s assistant.
“This is more an emotional tale pivoted around Venba, added Kumar. “Venba’s role called for intense performance. Anjali has lived up to the expectations.”
Shot in Tenkasi, Thailand and Cambodia, Sethupathi has performed high risk action sequences himself without a double. Nung aka Pradit Seeluem is the action choreographer.
Linga, last seen in ‘Sethupathi’, plays Ling, the antagonist.
“Ling is a Tamilian from Malaysia and part of a gang managed by a Thai, played by Thai actor Chang, said Linga. “He is a sadist.”
Besides putting on 22kg over six months, Linga said he had to understand the mind of a ruthless man.
“Arun guided me through discussions and his detailed inputs helped me portray Ling.”
The highlight is a nine minutes plus long single shot in the climax scene involving 120 people and filmed within a confined space.
Yuvan Shankar Raja has scored music. Vijay Karthik Kannan is the DOP.
‘Sindhubaad’ releases in the UAE on June 21.
