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Sundar C EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Theater owner called me and said theaters are doing well because of Aranmanai 4
In an exclusive chat with Pinkvilla, director Sundar C of the Aranmanai franchise revealed many details about the film’s success and his views on heroine-centric movies.
Making a sensation on the big screens, director Sundar C managed to carve out yet another blockbuster with his movie Aranmanai 4. The movie starring Tamannaah Bhatia, Sundar C, and Raashii Khanna in the lead roles marks the 4th installment in the franchise and is loved by many family audiences over the years.
The horror-comedy film has surely satisfied many of the viewers. Moreover, the film’s box office performance has also made it one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2024.
In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, director-actor Sundar C spoke on various details about the film and his future endeavors. Moreover, the director also shared his happiness over Malayalam films’ recent success and views on women-centric movies.
Director Sundar C spills the beans on Aranmanai 4’s success and many more
1. Aranmanai 4 has added yet another feather to the successful franchise. Does making horror comedies for family audiences ever feel like a difficult challenge for you?
Sundar C: No, I always consider that to be a challenge because it's a difficult thing to make a franchise especially when people have expectations. Like we have to create something that fits their expectation but if we keep on repeating the same thing, they’ll get tired. We can’t go up and beyond too much from the graph either cause films are not like cricket that we can keep hitting out with boundaries but more like playing tennis or badminton.
Take any franchise in the world like Spiderman, Superman, or Batman, such movies have a certain formula to them. This formula also applies to Aranmanai as well. The way we set the films there will be a ghost angle, a humor angle, an emotional flashback, and a divine intervention should also be there but at the same time the movie also has to be different, that is the biggest challenge.
2. In Aranmanai movies, the audience always expects Khushbu’s devotional dance in the climax, but this time you surprised everyone by including Simran in the song as well. How did you manage to rope in the actress for this special cameo?
Sundar C: From the beginning itself I thought of having two heroines dance on the song. One thing is sentimentally every film of mine that Khush has been a part of in a guest role has become a success. Furthermore, I always plan to work with artists with whom I am comfortable. Considering the fact that I have previously worked with Simran on a couple of movies it was easier for me to approach her also.
Besides these things, I was clear that I needed a senior successful heroine who was also a great dancer. Especially considering Khush is dueting in the dance, nobody other than Simran would come to your mind.
Stills from Aranmanai 4:
3. Initially, Vijay Sethupathi was planned as the leading actor for Aranmanai 4 but he had to step out due to scheduling issues. Were any sort of significant changes made to the script after you replaced his character?
Sundar C: Not many major changes were made to the script. Initially, there was a romantic angle between Raashii’s character Dr. Maya, and my character Adv. Saravanan. However, since I was playing the latter role, I decided to scrap the idea of the romantic angle. There was also a song but as the angle was scrapped, that specific song was also automatically removed.
4. Tamil cinema had been experiencing a downward trend in box office collections, but with Aranmanai 4, audiences returned to the big screens. What's your thought on making such a sensation in theaters?
Sundar C: I am so happy because I was talking to a big-shot theater owner a couple of months ago. He was talking to me regarding the cinema industry’s main problem and he was telling me that for the last four months, theaters have not been doing well. Even in May, no perfect movies for all kinds of audiences had come, so much so that theaters were planning to shut down by the month's end.
However, a couple of days ago the same theater owner called me and told me that because of Aranmanai 4, theaters are doing well for now. People are coming into the theaters. I am happy because a movie does not include a few people’s work like a director or hero but involves 1000s and lakhs of people’s livelihoods. From the film’s light man to the theater’s canteen employee, their livelihood is based on the movie. As a producer or director, I have a responsibility to make successful and good movies. In that sense, when Aranmanai 4 became such a success, I was really happy.
5. Talking about market trends and box office collections, 2024 has become quite the year for Malayalam films with blockbusters like Manjummel Boys, Premalu, and more. Have you watched any of the recent releases and what do you think about the current scenario of the Malayalam industry?
Sundar C: I am a huge huge fan of Malayalam movies because my native is Coimbatore and almost every Malayalam film is released there. When I was growing up it was the golden time of Mammootty and Mohanlal sir's reign. There were all these superb movies like Sangham, Chitram, and so many more movies.
However, later on, Malayalam movies started to become another version of Telugu and Tamil films. They had lost their originality. Actually, I think this process of success started 5 years ago. From movies like Angamaly Diaries started to slowly change. With all the different movies they made over the years, now they are tasting the success.
Including Manjummel Boys, all of the films are nativity movies, they keep the native sense and culture intact, unlike any masala movies which is not Kerala’s culture. I’m so happy that the golden age of Malayalam cinema is coming back.
6. Malayalam writer-director Anjali Menon recently asked on social media about where the women of the industry are, since a Bollywood film like Crew has female leads, and your movie Aranmanai 4 also features lead roles by actresses Tamannaah Bhatia and Raashii Khanna, both being box office hits. How would you react to this?
Sundar C: I am very delighted that the myth of a film only crossing the Rs 100 crore mark if a big male cast is in it has been broken. The stereotype of female-led movies only being small-budgeted or story-oriented ones has been shattered and now we can make big-budget commercial movies. Women-led movies can also be a big success has now been proven with Aranmanai 4.
Hereafter, it is not whether it is hero-oriented or heroine-oriented but if it is content-oriented. If the content is good, if the movie is made in a way audiences love then it will rake in a lot of money from the theaters. Audiences are ready to watch films with good content even if it is hero-oriented or heroine-oriented.
Stills from Aranmanai 4:
7. Aranmanai 4 is your 6th collaboration with composer Hiphop Tamizha Aadhi. How both of you managed to keep your creativity intact and how does it feel working with him since Ambala?
Sundar C: Yeah, now he has matured a lot. When we started working in Ambala, he was very raw. I had to explain to him everything about a song’s structure and grammar right from pallavi to charanam (segments of a composition).
Since then, he has matured, and now I don’t have to guide him in anything. He is very talented and understands the trade. It’s much easier for both of us to work together especially when you're working on a horror movie like Aranmanai. There’s always a certain music grammar to horror flicks but we wanted to break that kind of barrier. Usually, in scary movies, there’s a banging loud score to scare the people but we wanted to avoid it.
We approached the movie’s score like we were doing a thriller film and avoided such loudness, which gave Aranmanai a whole new dimension. This comes from Aadhi’s maturity as a music director.
Song Achacho from Aranmanai 4:
8. You have done a variety of experimentation in films with a social drama like Anbe Sivam and a spoof action comedy like Ambala. Do you think you’d once again try something similar to them?
Sundar C: I don’t know actually. I’m right now working on a couple of scripts. One of them is another female-centric thriller…let us see how things turn out to be.
9. Now that Aranmanai 4 has been released, there are rumors of you directing the next installment of the Kalakalappu franchise, and reviving your big-budget movie Sangamithra. Are there any updates about them? Also, will there be a 5th Aranmanai movie?
Sundar C: Aranmanai 5 is not planned as of yet. Like just because the 4th installment became a hit I don’t want to make another for the sake of cash grab. I have to find a proper script and everything, so it is not happening in the near future.
When it comes to Sangamithra, revival plans are going on in a big way. Hopefully, a piece of good news will come in another couple of months. Moreover, I was supposed to start Kalakalappu 3 on May 25th but because of Aranmanai’s success, it got pushed for now. It’s a bit delayed but an official cast and crew announcement will only be made later on.
ALSO READ: Then to Now: Khushbu Sundar recalls how Sundar C proposed to her 29 years ago
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