Actor-filmmaker Uday Mahesh is making a comeback to directing films with the upcoming OTT feature, Lucky The Superstar. The film, starring GV Prakash and the With Love sensation Anaswara Rajan, is centred around a dog that proves to be a lucky charm to those who possess it. Novelist George Eliot once said, "Animals are such agreeable friends — they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms". That was, however, not the reason why he returned to direct films. "At first I was only planning to remain a writer, but Hotstar insisted that I direct the film as well. I too wanted to get back to direction, so I decided, why not?" begins Uday Mahesh.

Having made his writing debut with the 2005 Hindi film Yahaan, Uday went on to direct films like Naalai and Chakkara Viyugam. He says acting effectively turned his focus away from filmmaking. "I have been busy all these years acting in films and series, and this made me lazy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the first lockdown put all my acting assignments on hold, and I had enough time to work on a story. I share a very good rapport with Pushpa (Kandasamy) ma'am from Kavithaalaya, and she helped in bringing JioHotstar on board," he says, adding that though he knew Lucky would be an OTT film, he treated it with theatrical sensibilities. "End of the day, the audience who visit theatres are also the ones who watch films on OTT platforms. I do not believe that writing for a direct-to-digital release requires a different strategy. Except for a few big star films, you don't see people turning out in huge numbers for all films released in theatres. They wait for the film's digital premiere. So I have treated the film like a theatrical release with ample high points, tense moments and situations for claps and laughter."

Digging deeper into his first choice of solely being associated with the project as a writer and why being a standalone writer in the Tamil industry remains challenging, Uday says that the 'chemistry' between writers and directors is least discussed and is very crucial for such an eventuality to take place in the Tamil scene. "Yahaan happened because the film's director, Shoojit (Sircar), and I worked together in ad films. We knew where we came from, and we were able to establish a collaborative equation. The filmmaking process in the Hindi and Malayalam industries, to a larger extent, still begins with the producer and writer coming together first, and they scout for an appropriate director. In Tamil, it is totally different," says Uday, while pointing out that filmmakers like Bharathiraja and KS Ravikumar also worked with writers. But he picks out a nuance on how differently Tamil cinema operates. "Here, the director chooses writers who would suit their sensibilities. Bharathiraja sir had writers who were familiar with his rural aesthetics, and it was the same with Ravikumar sir. Two strangers are hesitant to collaborate, fearing the result. These days, directors too are very protective of their creative discretion and they are particular about making films from scripts written by them. It is the individuals and not the industry that need to return to the drawing board and make space for writers in the creative process," he argues.

Apt to its title, the film could be considered lucky as it is a project that was shaped by several first choices. Uday says that the casting choices he had when writing Lucky were the ones he got to work with. "I see GV Prakash as a very versatile and grounded actor. There are some hurdles that the screenplay throws at its protagonist. These hurdles would have looked easy to overcome with actors like Vijay or Ajith. But someone like GV Prakash can add genuineness to the character's burden and also make the audience feel tense. Also, Anaswara (Rajan) is now a sensation, thanks to With Love, but we added her as a budding talent who showed a lot of promise and had the calibre to accomplish what she has accomplished now," elaborates Uday as he points to the non-negotiability of bringing in Kovai Sarala, Thambi Ramaiah and Naan Kadavul Rajendran to be the voices for the three dogs in the film. "I was very particular about having them in the dubbing cast. I even resorted to emotional blackmail, and told them the project would not take off without their approval. Dubbing for a film like this one is no mean feat. We made them wear headgear attached with a camera to record their emotions and feed it to the system to match their expressions to the dogs. Wearing it would have been painful for them, but they were thorough professionals and Lucky would not have been possible if not for them," says Uday, adding that training the dogs, too, was a gargantuan task, and the shoot schedule was planned according to these limitations.

The meticulous work that has gone into making the movie reflects the promise of a film that wouldn't just bark but will also bite. Uday signs off by saying that he conceptualised Lucky The Superstar as a kids' film, but is also clear that it has a sense of universality to it. "Lucky was written and shot keeping kids in mind, but it will also be loved by adults for its satire and humour. I sincerely believe that having multiple layers of likability to a film will ensure that it reaches its core audience."