Southern Spice: Destroying all obstacles: DIY with Arun Vijay

Magilzh Thirumeni's second film, Thadaiyara Thaakka, starring Arun Vijay and Malayalam actress Mamta Mohandas, is releasing Thursday.

"This is an action thriller," said Thirumeni, who assisted directors Selvaraghavan and Gautham Menon before working on his first film, Mundhinam Parthene.

"It is a story of an ordinary person who, due to unforeseen circumstances, gets into a problem and how he emerges out of it.

"Actually, I have combined two genres — action and suspense thrillers — and am hopeful that the audience will enjoy the film."

Vijay plays a young man, Selva, from a lower middle class family, who runs a taxi service.

"For this character, I wanted an actor who could be convincing as an ordinary person and still pull off action scenes. Entwined in the story is a love story that reveals the soft and sensitive side of my hero. Arun fitted the bill completely.

"He is a director's delight. Arun listens to instructions and is open to be guided on his role," added the director, who holds a Masters degree in English.

Vijay, who performed the stunt scenes himself, had an added challenge — playing a character who is left-handed. "This called for immense preparation, as timing during stunt scenes is important," Thirumeni explained.

Quick reflexes

"For [one] scene he had to swing a weapon and his reflexes had to be quick or else his co actors could suffer injuries. Arun's performance is convincing. This film will take his career up a few notches."

The title of the film is taken from the slokas of Skanda Shasti Kavacham. It means to destroy all obstacles. Slokas are verses in Sanskrit praising a deity, in this case Lord Muruga.

This is Mohandas' third Tamil film. She plays an impulsive young woman in love with Selva. "Mamta has done full justice to her role," said Thirumeni.

Produced by Feather Touch Entertainment, Thadaiyara Thaakka, has music scored by S. Thaman. One of the songs, Kelamalae, penned by Karky, appears twice. One is an electronic version sung by Alap Raju and the other Thaman sang himself.

Vijay also lent his voice for a duet with L.R. Easwari.

Eighteen films old, Arun Vijay is excited about his upcoming film, Thadaiyara Thaakka. The actor talks about playing a character who's left-handed and doing action sequences without a stunt double.

What drew you to the role?

I found Magilzh Thirumeni's racy script interesting. It will keep the audience guessing. I have done commercial films [before], but this was a role that I had not explored [yet]. Yes, it is action oriented, without any heroism forced into the character. The performance had to be subtle. I liked that. I feel this will add colour to my career.

How did you prepare?

Selva, my character, is left-handed. But I am right-handed. Naturally, that was the main challenge. So I had to work on using my left hand more often, while opening doors and even writing. It took some time to get used to being a lefty.

Another hurdle involved doing stunt scenes using my left hand. For one scene I had to swing a heavy iron rod. It required a lot of practice. Anal Arasu is the stunt master and a lot of emphasis has been given to stunt scenes.

What about overcoming fear, since you don't use a double for action scenes?

Since my childhood days, I have been in awe of Bruce Lee, [Jean-Claude] Van Damme and Jackie Chang. I have yearned to do films similar to theirs. I think I got over the fear watching them. Besides, I am trained in martial arts and am into kick boxing.

I like to push myself further by learning new skills to equip the actor in me. After my last film, MaanjaVelu, I went to London to learn sky diving for four months. I now have a license from [the] US Parachute Association and am qualified to sky dive from anywhere. I was hoping to use this skill in Thadaiyara Thaakka, but the script did not call for that.

What's next?

After the release of this film, I [want to] visit Vietnam to learn a new style of martial arts.