The ‘good friends’ duo Sundeep Kishan and Ranjith Jayakodi are all set to woo the audience with their upcoming film Michael. Not even a week left for its release in theaters, director Ranjith in an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, opened up about how the casting for the film was done, Michael being a visually rich film, and more.
K. Ramya Sree
Michael, starring Sundeep Kishan, has sparked a lot of interest since its trailer debuted recently. The pan-India film, directed by Ranjith Jayakodi, is gearing up for a grand theatrical release on February 3.
The film has a star cast including Vijay Sethupathi, Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar, Divyansha Kaushik, Varun Sandesh, and Gautham Menon, adding more weight to the film.
This is the third film for director Ranjith, a Chennai native. The director revealed that it was Sundeep Kishan who first initiated working with him.
“Sundeep was impressed after watching my second film, and he called me up about the same. Since then, we have been good friends. However, during the second lockdown, he suddenly said, “Let’s make a movie together.” He was keen on doing an action movie, and at the same time I was also writing the script for Michael. That’s how Michael happened to us,” said the director, who clarified that Michael is not just an action film, it has period drama, action, romance, and much more.
“The film is set in three periods: 1970s, 80s and 90s. It is a beautiful love story with a gangster backdrop,” added Ranjith.Interestingly, this film will see Happy Days fame Varun Sandesh in a negative role for the first time, and the director informs us that it was Sundeep who proposed to cast Varun in this film.
He said, “When I wrote the story, I had another actor in mind for that role. Sandeep was the one who asked me to check out Varun as his face will be fresh for the role. Since Varun had a lover boy image among the audience, I wanted him to give a screen test, and Varun took it very sportively and immediately agreed to the screen test. He had the same energy that an actor has while he auditions for his first film. I could feel Varun’s enthusiasm, and he surprised me with his acting.”
Furthermore, he said that he wanted a pan-Indian star for one of the roles, and since Vijay Sethupathi is his best friend with whom he did his first film, he could convince Vijay easily, and the actor liked the script very much.
Star cast aside, if you have watched the trailer, you will surely know how visually rich this film is. “The plot itself dictates the type of visuals that should be used. The lighting and frames are chosen to complement the tale. My prior films’ camera technique was also unique. Michael has visuals by Kiran Kaushik. Who would have guessed that this was his first film as a DVP? He did an outstanding job.
In terms of filmmaking style, I am influenced by international films. Before I go on set, I focus on the tone of the picture,” said the director, who is confident that the visuals in this film will get a good response.
It seems like Michael is a film that is being brought to the audience by a group of good friends. While the director already confessed that Sundeep and Vijay are his good friends, the music director of the film, Sam CS, is also his good friend. He came on board to provide some spine-chilling music for the film, and that too even more cautiously because this is his good friend’s movie.
Bharat Choudhary and Pushkur Ram Mohan Rao are jointly producing this film, with Narayan Das and K Narang as the presenters.
