Our filmmakers do have a strong connection with places. But it isn’t the most amusing thing in this context, at least not when you compare it to the Kardashian family, who named their children Chicago West and Penelope Scotland. Do a more international upgrade and we have Chris Hemsworth (who played Thor), crossing the seas and naming his daughter India. Closer home, we have a person named Tamil Nadu (yes, to know more, watch The Problem of a Strange Name episode in Neeya Naana). If his love life drove Chris to name his daughter India, here it was Periyar who inspired a father to name his child Tamil Nadu.
Often, naming their films using places is a fad that few filmmakers attempt once in a while. And, I can assuredly tell you that no one can come close to director Perarasu. Be it Vijay’s Thirupachi, Bharath’s Thiruthani or Arjun Sarja’s Thiruvannamalai, a look at his filmography is the equivalent of looking at the Tamil Nadu map. Sometimes, the borders blur and you get a sneak into the Andhra map as well, like with Ajith’s Thirupathi. It is because he feels that these titles sit well with his action genre films. For example, Sivakasi is a town known for manufacturing firecrackers, and the title of his action entertainer with Vijay was inspired by this place, where the character is compared to fire several times, and even wears lit firecrackers as a garland. Probably, one contributing reason Perarasu took a break from films is that with even Palani and Dharmapuri done and dusted, there is perhaps a dearth of punchy Tamil city names. But fret not, with the nation’s pan-Indian fascination, he might perhaps make a comeback with a Jhansi or Nashik.