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Never-say-die attitude

Prabu Solomon has made a stunning comeback with Kokki, writes S. AISHWARYA

A scene from Kokki.

Not many Kollywood directors have made a stunning come back. Prabu Solomon is perhaps among the few who established himself quickly despite few flops early on in his career.

After two successive movies (`Kannodu Kanbathellam' and `King') that failed to make an impact on the box-office, Solomon's `Kokki' has returned him to the league of promising directors.

Surprise

"In fact, I expected the first two movies to do well than this one," he says. After a gap of two years, Kokki's success has surprised him a bit, he confesses, but adds that the story line was so strong that he expected it to be a decent hit. But why did he plump for Karan in the lead role? "It was a matter of choice. Also, not many top-notch actors would accept this role" he opines.

Karan's subdued role and the co-actors' non-filmy dialogues put the movie on the road to success. "Under-playing is difficult than over-acting. I ensured that none of the character appear artificial."

Dialogues, he reiterates, was another prime factor for success. "The pace of the movie depends on the dialogue. The on-the-spot scripts and shots made it a near-to-reality movie."

The new face for the female lead has clicked as well. Since it was a hero-centric subject, he admits, he did not decide about the role earlier. "Along with scripts and casting, the producer's view is equally important. The pay for an established heroine would be that of the total cost of the film," he quips.

But why not a Tamil face? "Not many are willing to act in movies," pat comes the reply. Then there were highly appreciated candid camera shots by Jeevan. The scenes were shot without any extra lighting. "Jeevan was my greatest strength," he recalls.

No sets

The entire film was shot in public places without sets, he says pointing out the practical difficulties in managing crowds.

PHOTO: M. MOORTHY

STRIVING Working hard for success

"Once during the shoot of a chasing scene in a busy Chennai street, an old man came into the shot and caught Karan mistaking him for a thief. We had a tough time in making him understand it was a film shoot," he laughs.

Working as an assistant director with Agasthian and Sundar. C taught him the nuances of script-based stories and hero-centric ones. "Agasthian focuses on scripts rather than the cast, but Sundar's approach is the other way round. This taught me to adapt to both the approaches," says Soloman.

Failures, perhaps, has taught him important rules of the film industry — never delay the film for whatever reason. "When I was working with Vikram (for `King') after his super-hit movie `Sethu', he was looked as an actor in soft roles. Since his other movie `Dhil' was underway, I slowed down the pace of my shooting," he recalls.

In the meantime Dhil's success changed Vikram's image as a soft-hero and this was the main reason for lukewarm response from public to King, he feels. Solomon's maiden movie `Kannodu Kanbathellam' suffered a similar setback. "Though the story line was new, the audience felt that the actor (Arjun) was an action hero and not cut out for soft-roles," he repents. His next venture will be a safer bet produced by Sathyaraj with Sibiraj playing the lead role. "The female lead will also be a popular one, as the producer wishes," he quips.

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