Pandiraj Says Kathakali is an 'Emotional Thriller'

Chennai: Director Pandiraj is riding high on the success of Pasanga 2. Now this Pongal, he's looking forward to the release of Kathakali, which is going to be a completely different genre from the films that he is known for. "Kathakali is an action film," he told iFlickz.

The film based on a true incident, features Vishal in lead role a bank employee. "The story is about what happens when a person receives a phone call and his life changes completely after that. His entire life and family are affected by it. Apart from action, there are a lot of emotions involved and that's why I would call it an emotional thriller," Pandiraj said.

The director is happy to have teamed up with Vishal for the first time. So how did he think of casting Vishal? "I knew him from the time he shot for Pandiya Naadu with my good friend Susindran. So when this script came about, I approached him since he is really suited for an action thriller like this."

The story will be a gripping guess game, which will keep the viewers on tenterhooks all through. The film moves between Chennai and Cuddalore. Vishal is paired with Catherine Theresa who plays a pharmacist. "She plays a Chennai girl and you will see her in comic and romantic roles equally," said Pandiraj.

Of teaming up with Karunas Sethu for the first time, Pandiraj said, "He is from my native place and we had wanted to team up for a long time. I'm glad that it has happened now."

The film's cinematographer is Balasubramaniam, while Hiphop Tamizha Adhi has composed the music. Pandiraj is all praises for both of them. "Vishal had suggested Adhi's name after hearing Thani Oruvan's background score. But I did wonder whether he would be able to pull off the RR of a thriller, like this, where he has to carry the story. But he has done a wonderful job of it. The music and the camerawork of this film will be much spoken about."

When asked who the villain is in this thriller, Pandiraj said, "There is no villain really. It's the circumstance which is the villain."

For Pandiraj, one of the highlights of the film is its realism. "There are 3 fight scenes in the film, but if you're looking for people flying in the air and falling several feet away, that's not going to happen. Every fight has been realistically choreographed. If someone is hit, they will fall exactly where they are supposed to fall in a real situation. There are no rope lifts and Tata Sumos which are generally used in fight scenes these days."

Having done comedy and children's films earlier, is Pandiraj bent on showing the other side of his abilities? "Yes, you could say this is my other side, my 'marupakkam'. I wanted to show that I can pull off stories and genres like these as well."