Director Bakkiyaraj Kannan awaits the release of 'Sulthan' on April 2. In this interview, the Kollywood filmmaker talks about the Karthi-Rashmika Mandanna starrer.
I assisted director Sundar C in the initial phase of my career. I assisted Atlee for 'Raja Rani'. I debuted as a director with Sivakarthikeyan's 'Remo'. It was a hit both in Tamil and Telugu. 'Sulthan' is my second film as a director.
'Sulthan' is about the journey of a young man (Karthi) with hundred people who are so unlike him. How the actor faced the unforeseen situations arising out of his tryst with them, is the crux of the story. The scenes between him and the hundred people will be exciting to watch.
Karthi has played the role of a Robotics Engineer. How the Mumbai-returnee behaves in a village and what he does in the context is quite interesting.
Soon after he listened to the story, Karthi felt quite happy. He was excited. Usually, he doesn't say okay to a film unless he listens to the bound script. But this one was okayed by him just on the basis of the storyline. It's a sign of success as far as I am concerned.
This one is Rashmika Mandanna's first Tamil film. She has been popular even before 'Sulthan' in Tamil Nadu. After her Kannada film 'Kirrik Party', she was flooded with offers from Kollywood. I am glad that she is debuting with my film.
Rashmika is not limited to songs and dances. She has got a strong role as a village girl. She is a well-read person in 'Sulthan'. She is also kind-hearted and helps people in need. There are scenes in the backdrop of agriculture. The scenes between her and Karthi are cute.
I selected Ramachandra Raju after watching 'KGF'. He is capable of bringing out villainism with his looks. He is not the film's only villain. There are a number of others as well.
'Sulthan' was shot at Chennai, Pollachi, Dundigal and other locations. We shot at Palakkad for three days. In the Telugu version, the story is set at a village near Amaravathi.
We didn't make any changes to the script due to Covid-19. Only some patchwork was pending to be done during the pandemic.
I am a big fan of SS Rajamouli sir. I have lost count of the number of times I watched the 'Baahubali' movies. I watch a lot of Telugu movies, whose commercial values I like a lot.
