Radhakrishnan Parthiban is a restless soul. He keeps getting innovative ideas, some of which turn into films, and some of which change into interesting dialogues in those films.
Some of them, in fact, turn into gift ideas as well. For the audio launch of his last film Iravin Nizhal, the actor-director invited guests with a mouth organ. For his latest film, Teenz, keeping with the theme, he would pack a ruler and blackboard with the invite.
“If I sell some of my ideas or lines to an ad agency, I would probably be a rich man today,” he smiles.
At his office in Chennai’s Nandanam, a space dotted with film posters, awards and a variety of pens, Parthiban is chiding one of his assistants for serving tea in a paper cup. He is also simultaneously talking to a theatre owner in Puducherry regarding show timings. The actor-director is a perfectionist, a fact he unabashedly admits to. “My father taught me dedication and discipline, something that I try emulating in my cinema life even today. There are a few directors who can work with huge stars in a couple of films and charge crores of rupees...but those are exceptions and not the norm. I see myself as the norm, because I am someone who has to struggle to get out a film,” he says.
A still from ‘Teenz’
A different line
Teenz, his latest effort that has music by D Imman, revolves around a bunch of children who are eager to announce to the world that they are “not kids anymore.” For Parthiban, usually known in the film industry for christening his project with lyrical Tamil titles like Kudaikkul Mazhai and Iravin Nizhal, this was a chance to experience the world of a much-younger crowd. “The first visual I had in mind was this: a girl with glasses gets up and announces to the world, ‘We are not kids anymore.’ I built my storyline based on that thought.”
Despite having a mastery over Tamil, Parthiban has chosen to pepper scenes in Teenz with little dialogue and a lot of English lines. “It had to be relatable to audiences,” he says. As a director, Parthiban is very much an on-the-spot improviser rather than sticking to a book that divides the day’s shooting sequences as long-shot, mid-shot and so on. “A lot of directors stick to the script book, and that probably helps them finish films within the deadline they have in mind. I work differently; only after a shot is complete do I even think of the next shot.”
He believes that Teenz will be an answer to common criticism over Tamil cinema’s recent obsession over violence-based films. “I think violence is not just in the theatres, but also on the streets, and films are a reflection of society, but Teenz is a U-rated film. It is based on compassion and kindness, which are values I believe in as a person.”
Parthiban’s gift of the gab is well-known, and he plans to use a lot of that in a future project. “I have written a hilarious script, to be told in two parts. It will be a huge-budget entertainer, requires 30 actors and more importantly, a good producer,” he says. That will have to wait, but for now, Parthiban has 54m Pakkathil Oru Mayiliragu, for which he is scouting for the leading lady. There’s also Dark Web, which is a modern take on his 1989 directorial debut Pudhiya Paadhai, in which Parthiban will reprise the same role he did 35 years ago. “After watching the recent Tamil film Maharaja, I had an idea: a person lands up in a police station because he lost a needle. I keep getting film story ideas, and writing a screenplay takes me just about four days. In two weeks, I usually finish writing four-five films. The biggest challenge is to decide which film to make and who will back it.”
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