One scene that stood out for me was Nimisha Sajayan putting up a fight when asked to clean a toilet. Why did you have that scene?
I am also making a film which features the sanitation department in the background. Sakthi could have become anyone. But we chose this because metaphorically the young Sundari has only grown to become Sakthi. Her identity is not that of a rape survivor but a sanitation worker. And no job is inferior. I wanted to put that out there. She boldly tells them to clean it themselves, and that’s something I wanted to say. In the overall narrative, we needed a scene that would cause issues between Eswaran and Ponni’s father because only then the former would not drop her at home. Instead of having any random conflict, I thought we could say something that society needs to hear.
You do not portray Siddharth as the typical hero who gets to save the kid or successfully gets his revenge. Who is a hero according to you?
Anybody is a hero. For me, anybody who helps others or sacrifices is a hero. Why did the lady in the share auto get claps in the theatre? She did nothing, she just helped the kid and she is a hero.
Tell us about Sakthi’s relationship with Eswaran. What becomes of this relationship and do they sort out their issues?
The climax where she opens up about her past is where they resolve their initial conflicts that happened when they were in 12th grade. She doesn’t come back to Palani for him but when she sees his love for her has not changed, she falls in love with him again. In the second half, she keeps telling him to not take revenge and tries to stop him several times, her last method is when she opens up. She is upset that he didn’t understand it before. But when he still seeks revenge after listening to her plight, she leaves. The conflict prevails. The main point of the story is when, she says, “Avan sethu 6 years aachu, poi kollu po.”
What will it solve? How many people will one be able to kill? And how many of those would actually be criminals? What if Ponni’s father had killed Siddharth? He would’ve killed an innocent person. Revenge doesn’t solve the purpose. We need to be there for the people who suffer.