‘Vidaa Muyarchi’ was suggested by Ajith Kumar: Magizhi Thirumeni interview

Magizhi Thirumeni speaks about how Ajith Kumar provided the source material of ‘Vidaa Muyarchi’ and why the audience should see the film without any preconceived notions

One can intuit when someone is speaking consciously, measuring every sentence they utter, choosing words carefully to avoid misinterpretations, or spilling more details than necessary. Throughout my conversation with Magizh Thirumeni, the filmmaker seems to be confident but as if he is coming from a place of having cooked a grand meal from an untested recipe.

For over the last 15 years, the filmmaker known for making gritty, pulsating, and engaging action thrillers like Thadam, Thadaiyara Thaakka, and Meaghamann, has been waiting for a call-up to direct Ajith Kumar, a superstar known for his tryst with the commercial action genre. “I have known Mr Suresh Chandra” — popular PRO and Ajith Kumar’s manager — “for over 15 years, but I never once asked for an opportunity to pitch a story to Ajith sir,” says Magizh, noting that he was aware that he had to prepare and prove himself as a filmmaker for such an opportunity to knock on his doors. And when it did, what followed surprised Magizh, as it should surprise all awaiting to watch his much-anticipated film with Ajith, Vidaa Muyarchi.

When Suresh sir said I was directing Ajith sir’s next film, I was stunned for a few seconds. He then said that we are starting shoots in ten days.” Now, the latter part of the sentence is where everything changes for Magizh, where he and Ajith begin a project that seems so unlike anything they have ever done. “Then I got a call from Ajith sir, who in his iconic baritone voice said something I will never forget: ‘Magizh, trust me blindly.’ To this moment, the trust has been intact. He explained that he already had a story idea and we would make a film with that. So the source material was suggested to me by sir.” For the first time in his career, Magizh agreed to direct a film not based on his original story but with the agreement that he would execute somebody else’s vision.

This reveal piques interest but also changes what everyone believed Vidaa Muyarchi to be. Audiences and fans have been waiting to see how Ajith fits into Magizh Thirumeni’s world of cinema and how he has shaped into the protagonists we have come to see in Magizh’s films. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this film is present in a Magizh Thirumeni world, as grandiose as it sounds, because the source material is not mine,” Magizh reasserts.

The filmmaker puts it on record that this wouldn’t be a ‘100% Magizh Thirumeni’ film — something we have heard from filmmakers while working with A-listers. You would assume that Magizh had to have altered his ways for the film to suit Ajith Kumar’s stardom. But Magizh denotes the opposite. “While this is not a 100% Magizh Thirumeni film, it wouldn’t be 100% the kind of films Ajith sir’s fans are eager to see,” he says.

In a move long due for Ajith Kumar, the superstar will be seen as a common man in the film and “not a larger-than-life hero who can bash up 50 guys in an instant.” When Ajith pitched the story of Vidaa Muyarchi, Magizh was apprehensive for a few reasons. Firstly, this was anything like the film he had dreamed of making with Ajith. “I was hoping for it to be an action entertainer, in my style of course, with logic and realism, but with a larger-than-life Ajith Kumar.” The story of Vidaa Muyarchi was far from that. “I hesitated because sir’s current stature is far beyond the limitations of the central character in the source material. I wondered if the fans would be ready to accept it” — Magizh confesses that he continues to ponder over some of these doubts — “and I wondered why sir chose me to do something so far removed from the kind of action films I make, and from the films his fans expect him to make.” Before he could pose the question, Ajith told Magizh it was time for them to step out of their comfort zones. “That has been the guiding vision, and AK sir has been the pillar of strength right from the first day of this project.”

This conversation essentially conveys that after a long time, a superstar in Tamil cinema has opted to go for a pure-genre film, as opposed to a commercial film that is a mixed bag of genres. The traditional commercial formula has been a viable option for big stars since multiple commercial elements ensured something or the other kept the audiences engaged. Films were ‘packaged’ with songs, fights, and comedy to offer such support. “What amazes me is that for some reason, this A-lister, one of the kings of South Indian cinema, has the guts to choose a script in which he plays a common man, tackling huge issues with common man powers and not superhero powers.”