'Vaasu is my nick name, and I wanted my debut to be commercial'

The title of Vaasu Naan Pakka Commercial, which stars Anish Tejeshwar, has been arousing much curiosity. And now, director Ajithvasan Uggina reveals the interesting backstory of the title.

"In real life, my nickname is Vaasu. So when I was writing the story of this film, I wanted to come up with a catchy name as a prefix and I decided to include my own name in the title," says Ajithvasan, adding, "The title is not based on the hero, but on heroine's characterisation (played by Nishvika Naidu). It's definitely a pucca commercial flick as the title itself suggests."

Interestingly, the story of Vaasu.. was told to Anish when the actor was shooting for Akira. "Naveen Reddy, (the director of Akira) is a close friend of mine, whom I had associated with during his first project. Around that time, I had narrated the script of Vaasu...But then I left for the US for a bilingual Tamil-Telugu project, a horror-comedy, which is still in progress. Anish got back to me later saying he is interested in the subject and wanted me to helm it. Since I had the story and screenplay, I decided to take it forward.  Anish pitched in to produce the film. That's how the film was conceived," says the director.

Ajithvasan, who is making his directorial debut in Kannada with the film, says that he likes to play to the strength of the hero, and based on this he has tweaked Anish's character. Having watched Anish at close quarters during the making of Akira helped him understand the actor better. "As a director, I believe that the director and hero should share a good working rapport.  If you appreciate an actor, it will help bring to screen the character you've visualised. While he is a good dancer, his dialogue delivery is his strength... he's able to deliver a 10-page dialogue with ease. For my film, I have made sure to change his style to suit his role, and it's one that will work for a commercial entertainer. I hope that this film will take him to great heights as an actor and producer," he says.

Ask Ajithvasan whether a director requires mastery over a language to direct a film, and he says, "A film requires emotions, dialogues, timing. That's what counts. Sharath Gowda, executive producer, also helped bridge the language gap, which helped during the shooting."

Vaasu Naan Pakka Commercial, produced by Anish Tejeshwar under WinkWhistle Productions, has music by Ajaneesh B Loknath, cinematography by Dilip Chakravarthy and editing by Srikanth.