Mollywood sensation Tovino Thomas who is making his debut in Tamil with Abhiyum Anuvum in BR Vijayalakshmi’s direction could be called the ‘Emraan Hashmi of south’”, remarked ace cinematographer turned actor Natraj, while talking in jest about the kissing scenes between Tovino and Pia Bajpai in AA. The smooching picture of Pia and Tovino released earlier went viral. Natraj was recalling Tovino’s Malayalam movies where he was popular for kissing scenes.
Abhiyum Anuvum (a bilingual made in Malayalam as well) marks the return of BR Vijayalakshmi, Asia’s first woman cinematographer in a commercial film. She is the daughter of legendary filmmaker BR Panthulu who gave some timeless classics like Veerapaandiya Kattabomman, Aayiratthil Oruvan and Karnan. She wielded the megaphone 20 years ago for Paattu Paadava. The new movie is based on a real life incident that took place in the US.
The buzz surrounding the film is that it will create a huge controversy for its intriguing content. “No, I don’t think so. It is a story to be told to this generation. I am confident of its reach,” asserts Vijayalakshmi.
Suhasini Mani Ratnam, who has also acted in a key role in AA, revealed a secret about her husband at the event, saying, “I am letting out a secret. Mani Ratnam has never worked as an assistant to anyone. But many are not aware of the fact that he has worked in screenplay and as an assistant to Vijayalakshmi’s brother Ravi Panthulu in a Kannada film called Jwaale.”
Pia Bajpai, who will be seen with a clean-shaven head in a few scenes, said “I’m having a bald look for a couple of scenes in the film and it’s been very challenging for me. It used to take three to four hours just to place the prosthetic properly and have the bald look. And to remove it takes easily so many hours. And more than that, the whole day for 12-13 hours having that on my head, was very difficult. After a point, I thought of really shaving my head than wearing the hair prosthesis, but my director told me this look was just for a few days shot initially.”
