Debutant director B Ashok Kumar whose Neruppu Da starring Vikram Prabhu released last week, says the title is justified as “the film has a different take on the thankless service of the firemen, who put their life at risk in the line of duty.”

What propelled him to look for such a fiery start when it would have been safer to choose the usual love triangle, horror or crime thriller route? “The inspiration stemmed from an incident which I was privy to near the residence of the late actress Manorama,” says the filmmaker who was at that time assisting cinematographer Ravi Varman on two projects. “My heart was actually in cinematography. But as fate would have it, I met Vikram Prabhu and detailed this script. I was overjoyed when Vikram said he liked the script and even decided to produce it himself!”

On the choice of Slaterpuram near Kannagi Nagar as a location for much of the action, Ashok says it was perfect and he’s particularly happy with the visuals once art director Prabhakar set up a clocktower just as he’d asked.

The filmmaker is also pleased with the performance of Vikram. “He lived up to his potential and did some daring and risky stunts.” He’s also grateful to Sean Roldan for the music and bringing “the romantic segment of Vikram-Nikki Gilrani to life.”