The lead actors of Devi(L) were in the city to promote their trilingual film, that’s creating a buzz. In a conversation with us, Vijay, Tamannaah, Prabhudeva and Sonu Sood reveal tidbits about the ambitious project.
Tamannaah, who is on a high after receiving accolades for her performance in Dharma Durai, will be in dual avatar in Devi(L). “I will be seen as a rural girl, and as a glamourous woman. They are poles apart, and it’s very exciting to play such varied characters in a film. Since one of them has a different look, I had to change my skin colour! For the glamorous role, I couldn’t draw inspiration from my real-life self, because she is completely different from what I am. It was all Vijay sir’s imagination. For the village belle role, Vijay wanted me to take inspiration from Revathy madam in Thevar Magan. To see me in an all new avatar is the ‘real kick’,” she laughs.
The Baahubali actress also thanked Prabhu Deva for helping her with the tough dance steps — “He had a terrible backache when he came for the shoot, but he choreographed, danced and completed the song in just one day. I am sure, nobody else could have done it, except Prabhu sir.”
Ask her who the real ghost is in the movie, and she quickly responds, “It is not the routine ghost film. It’s a comedy. Of course, it has thrilling elements as well.”
Tamannaah has also been in the news for reportedly charging '55 lakhs, just for an item song in Telugu. “That’s less! In fact, I charge a high fee for everything,” she retorts with a grin.
Prabhu Deva, who essays the lead role in this film, is back to acting after a 11-year break. “I still feel like this is my debut film. When Vijay narrated the story, the first question I asked Vijay was, ‘Do people still believe I can dance?’” Prabhu grins, adding, “I made up my mind not to give my ideas while shooting. I was very clear that as an actor, I would perform as per the director’s wish.”
“Vijay has tremendous patience,” he continues, as he speaks about the director, “I have not seen him losing his cool ever.” Recalling how Tamannaah could not come for the rehearsal after the first day, Prabhu reveals, “I asked my co-choreographer Paresh where Tamannaah was. When we called her, she said, ‘sir, my body is paining and I am feverish. Please excuse me for the day.’ But, from the next day onwards, she rehearsed continuously for 15 days, and pulled it off with ease!”
We prod director Vijay to give us more insight into the flick, and he responds, “It’s about a couple and a third character played by Sonu Sood; a character-centric film, in which Tamannaah plays the role of Devi.”
He adds, “The movie is based on the murder of a Bollywood actress. I discussed with my co-writer Paul Aaron, the celebrated filmmaker and writer from Hollywood on the final script.”
Sonu Sood, who was also present, concludes telling us that he’s an expert in Tamil now — “I started learning Tamil when I came to Chennai to shoot for Vijayakanth’s Kallazhagar. After that, my mother gifted me the book, ‘How to learn Tamil’ — and now, I can understand 90 per cent of the language!”
