Chiyaan Vikram: “Mani Sir tortured, almost killed us every day on sets, making us decide not to shoot from the next day”

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Talking about her role in Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 2, ace actor Trisha Krishnan said at the trailer launch press conference of the film at PVR Andheri in the presence of Mani Ratnam, A.R. Rahman , Karthi, Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Jayam Ravi that she can and does cherish far too many memories of her association with the Mani Ratnam magical venture. “I enjoyed being a part and parcel of a multistar film like PS1 as well as PS2 because firstly I have not had the privilege of working in many multi star films down South”.

Trisha Krishnan Iyer, who had also acted under the direction of Priyadarshan in Khatta Meetha opposite Akshay Kumar almost a decade ago, added that the promotion parts of the film was what brought them closer together though it was extremely stressful when the shooting for the film with Mani Ratnam at the helm of affairs was on. The fond memories that all of us cherish of working with the unit are not going to fade away soon, I am sure.”

Chiyaan Vikram was brutally frank when it came to manifesting what transpired on the sets on location with Mani Ratnam and his unit. The actor who had acted with Mani Ratnam in Raavanan, Ponniyin Selvan as well as Ponniyin Selvan 2 declared that Mani Ratnam had tortured all the actors who were working in the film and almost killed them brutally to the extent that each and every actor decided collectively not to act any more in the film after the pack up was declared every day.

Also read: A.R. Rahman: “Though I am like a supermarket for others, I am like a special shop for Mani Ratnam Sir”

Chiyaan Vikram added, “The very next day we could not prevent us from reporting on the sets and listening to the command of our director Mani Sir because that is the kind of stuff that he is made of- a great taskmaster who all of us would like to work with again and again. It was really great to be part of the magnum opus that Mani Sir has made.”

Chiyaan Vikram confessed that he was quite tense when they were awaiting the release of PS1 last year for the simple reason that all of them had felt that PS1 was only the introductory part and the sequel had them juiciest stuff as far as the plot was concerned but the way the audiences applauded the first part made them all overwhelmed. All of us are grateful to the critics who gave us wonderful reviews for the first part. It would not at all be an exaggeration if I were to say that Mani Sir is our teacher as well as professor on the sets. It was hard work and not at all a play on location where we shot. Taking a cue from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who thanked each and every person of the crew, I would also like to thank the horse on which I rode.