Jiiva interview on ‘Aghathiyaa’: Heroes are not bigger than the craft

Ahead of the release of his film ‘Aghathiyaa’, Jiiva talks about the success of ‘Black’, doing big-budget films, diversifying into other language industries and experimenting with his choice of scripts

Conversations rarely get as candid as the ones with Jiiva. The star is an extension of the fun and mischievous characters he has played in films like Siva Manasula Sakthi and jokes are aplenty when conversing with him. It was interesting thus that his last film Black, a thriller featuring him in a serious role, turned out to be a hit. “I remember my friends calling me and saying how it’s nice to see all the boxes on ticketing apps look orange (laughs). Many of my films had a pandemic release, including 83 and films like Yatra 2 didn’t get the expected response,” says Jiiva. “We shot Black three years ago and more than me, a couple of my friends were quite confident about it. When I heard the script, I knew it was inspired by a Hollywood film (Coherence), which I hadn’t watched. But it reminded me of Netflix’s Dark and I knew it would be something new to Tamil cinema. The team worked hard and it feels good to know it worked.”

From sci-fi horror, Jiiva is moving on to a period horror thriller in Aghathiyaa, which is releasing on February 28. The film, helmed by lyricist and poet Pa Vijay, also stars Arjun and Raashii Khanna. Interestingly, Jiiva had earlier done Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae, a horror comedy. “Despite the genre being similar, the stories are different. Aghathiyaa has this Van Helsing meets Indiana Jones vibe set in a ‘namma ooru’ setting, complete with mother sentiment.” The film, Jiiva says, is out about a hero put into a tough situation from which he has to escape. Speaking of Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae, the film was produced by director Atlee who recently teamed up with Jiiva’s Kee director Kalees for the Hindi film Baby John. “I didn’t notice the connection at all. Kalees was Atlee’s right hand during Jawan. In a way, almost everyone in the industry has connections to me (laughs). For example, Ram (who helmed Jiiva’s Kattradhu Thamizh) is now coming with back-to-back films. I’ve watched Parandhu Po and it’s an amazing film. Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai is also an intense film along the lines of Kattradhu Thamizh.”

Coming back to Aghathiyaa, a look at its trailer reveals how it’s one of the most expensive films in Jiiva’s career. “I was a part of 83 which was made at a budget of ₹150 crore. It’s the content that demanded it. We went to London to shoot for three months. Had we shot it in Dehradun, it would’ve looked different,” says a laughing Jiiva who adds that Aghathiyaa demanded the budget. “In the hands of a resourceful producer, the film will do good business. The ones who talk about a hero’s market completely depend on him. But here, we have a wonderful team that has come together. Prabhas, for example, has a market but Baahubali did another number altogether, right? It comes down to the content and wanting to show something different to our Tamil audience.”

The makers of Aghathiyaa ran into trouble when the film’s composer Yuvan Shankar Raja remixed his father’s iconic ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ from Balu Mahendra’s Moodu Pani (1980). Music label Saregama India Ltd. claimed exclusive copyright ownership over the song, arguing that it acquired the rights from Moodu Pani’s producer and Aghathiyaa makers Vels Films International Ltd. obtained a license from Ilaiyaraaja, reigniting the debate over copyright ownership. To compensate Saregama, while ensuring that the film’s release was not disrupted, the court allowed its use subject to a deposit of ₹30 lakh with the court registrar.

Interestingly, Jiiva recently started his own music label, Deaf Frogs. “I have also gotten rights from Raja sir for the ‘Kadhal Kasakkuthaiya’ song (from Aan Paavam) which is to be remixed by Anand Kashinath (who composed Asal Kolaar’s ‘Paiya Dei’). I’m wondering what issues we’ll get when we release it,” he laughs.

When asked about the conundrum with copyrights, he says, “That’s one of the reasons we started Deaf Frogs. If a producer asks for a song, we can immediately deliver it for a particular percentage that will go to its creator. Unlike singers and music directors, it’s the actors who don’t get royalty. But of course, we get fame (smiles). Instead of waiting for music directors’ dates and delaying the shoot, makers can pick songs from multiple composers for their film like adding products to a shopping cart.”

Speaking of quickening film shoots, Jiiva acknowledges that Tamil films take longer to make compared to their Malayalam counterparts. “Our guys should understand the plight of our producers. A lot of prep work will come in handy and Malayalam cinema seems to have mastered that art. That’s why we work with directors like Sundar C who finish films in 3-4 months. Telugu industry also manages to wrap films fast but also maintains the grandeur and that’s something we can learn,” says Jiiva.