It’s taken almost 14 long years for actor Vijay Adhiraj to realise his dream of directing his first film Puthagam.
The film, produced by S. Manjula, has music by James Vasanthan and stars Sathya, brother of actor Arya, in the lead along with Rakul Preet Singh.
“It was in 1998 that I first narrated this script to two of my close friends, one of whom was Crazy Mohan. Both liked it. But I wanted to wait for some more time before making a debut as director. And the time has now come,” says Vijay, who has been in the industry for 20 years.
The film is being billed as a complete entertainer with lots of twists and turns.
“My film is about a crime gone wrong and its after effects. It revolves around three people staying in a mansion. One of them lives off his other two roommates. While one of them works in a courier company, the other is a hair stylist. Meanwhile, the hero is in love with an investigative journalist played by Rakul Preet Singh.”
Puthagam has a host of actors including Jagapathi Babu, Suresh Mysore, Sanjay Bharati, Vignesh, Rachana Maurya, Crazy Mohan, Manobala, Santhanabharathi, Thalaivasal Vijay, Delhi Ganesh and Uma Padmanabhan.
Talking about the huge star cast, Vijay says, “Sanjay Bharati is director Santhanabharathi’s son and this is his second film.”
When it comes to Jagapathi Babu, the excitement in his voice is unmistakable. “Jagapathi is a big star in Telugu and I wasn’t sure if he would take up this project. I wanted somebody to play the role of an ex-military man with shades of grey and he fit the bill. When I narrated the script to him, he immediately said ‘yes’.”
Inspired by directors such as K. S. Ravikumar and SP Muthuraman, Vijay wants to make commercial films.
Hopefully, Puthagam will prove to be a good beginning.
