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Photo: M. Srinath

Innovative Impressive attempt

A terrorist plants a bomb in the hero’s shoes. When the protagonist starts running, he cannot stop and if he does the bomb would explode. How the bomb is diffused, is the rest of the story.

“The innovative storyline won appreciation of many. But hardly found any takers. So we decided to release it on our own,” says the director.

The film, produced by four of Maamani’s friends under the banner ‘On Life Network,’ was first released in Chennai in February and a month later in Salem. Now ‘Akhu’ has hit the screens in Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Coimbatore.

What pleases Maamani most is the fact that the movie has won appreciation from the audience, wherever it was screened.

“We have toiled hard and the movie is slowly picking up. The flick would have done much better had it got more publicity. The feedback from those who have watched the film has been very encouraging and we now believe that publicity by word of mouth alone will motivate others to visit the theatres,” he says.

Maamani was all praise for Anu Hasan’s performance in the movie and says the actor did a lot of homework for her role as a bomb squad officer. “Anu Hasan was so impressed by the character that she readily accepted our offer. Such roles are a rarity for female artistes in the industry,” he adds.

Maamani also made a special mention about the amount of hard work put in by the hero, debutant Ajay. “He ran for almost 10 to 15 kms every day. Many were not interested in the role as they felt the film lacked commercial elements. But hats off to Ajay, he took up the challenge and performed exceedingly well.”

Maamani, who has worked as an assistant to R. Balu (‘Kalamellam Kadhal Vazhga’), Parthiban (‘Housefull’) and S.P. Jananathan (‘Iyarkai’), says that he was thrilled, when his work was commended by the legends in the industry.

“It was very satisfying when people like Bharathiraja lauded my efforts. Words of praise means a lot to us now as we consider it as a reward for our persistent hard work,” he says.

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