Siva Karthikeyan’s Ayalaan, directed by R. Ravi Kumar, is continuing its good run at the box office. The movie collected 75 crores gross as of now just from the Tamil version. The Telugu dubbed version is scheduled for release this week. Rakul Preet Singh played the female lead, and AR Rahman composed the tunes. Ahead of the Telugu release, Siva Karthikeyan interacted with the media, and here is the transcript.
Ayalaan took so long to complete. What made you do this film at any cost?
I believed in the director’s vision. There are 4500 VFX shots in the film, which is higher than the VFX shots of 2.0. Our budget is less. We can dream bigger if we can complete the film within our budget. Hence, it took a lot of time to wrap up the film.
If a film is in the making for a long time, the idea might get leaked, and others might duplicate it. Did you get such doubts?
There is a Hollywood film, and I won’t reveal the name. We shot a scene, and to our surprise, that English film also had that scene. As this is a fantasy superhero film, such things might happen. But the interaction between an alien and a human is unique, and it’s the core point of Ayalaan. It wasn’t tried before by anyone. Tamil audiences loved the film and didn’t have any complaints about the story.
What extra care did you take for the Telugu version?
Ayalaan has a universal concept. Audiences across regions will easily connect to the alien-human concept. The movie is a big hit in Tamil Nadu. I believe the film will succeed in Telugu too.
Why is the Telugu version having a delayed release?
As there were many Telugu films during Sankranthi, we didn’t release our film. I believe Ayalaan would strike a chord with the Telugu audiences even with a delayed release. Love Today, Viduthalai, and Vishal’s Abhimanyudu were released in Telugu after they became successful in Tamil. I waited five years for Ayalaan, and it isn’t a big deal to wait for two weeks.
What did you want to tell the Telugu audience before the release?
More than a film, you will feel like being in the theme park while watching it. You will have a fun ride for two and a half hours.
You made Rahman Garu dance. Tell us about it.
It became possible due to Sandy Master. AR Rahman Garu danced for the promotional song of Mamannan (Nayakudu in Telugu featuring Udhayanidhi Stalin and Keerthy Suresh). We made him dance for 2 hours. I believe he is a good dancer.