Arjun Das in the first look poster for Vignesh Venugopal's Super Hero 
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Vignesh Venugopal: I was inspired by M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable

Vignesh Venugopal talks about his debut directorial venture, Super Hero, the dynamics of Arjun Das and Sandy's characters, being inspired by M Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable (2000)

Prashanth Vallavan

On Monday, details regarding Arjun Das’ next, along with the first look poster, were unveiled. Titled Super Hero, the upcoming film is being directed by debutant Vignesh Venugopal. While the title might be apparent in its connection to a genre, the director says his film is more subtle and complicated than that. “Yes, the film has elements from the superhero genre, but it is not a conventional superhero film,” Vignesh says that his film derives its grounded tone from M Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable (2000), starring Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson. “I liked how it was technically a super hero film but we don’t see a lot of visual effects heavy action sequences or extraordinary displays of power. It was more about the clash of two differing ideologies. My film, Super Hero, is also a grounded film about two polar-opposite characters clashing.

However, Vignesh says that Super Hero is more about brotherhood. “Arjun Das plays a protagonist who is self-centered and easy to dislike. But he loves his younger brother, and the film shows how he transforms into a superhero for his brother.” Citing his Unbreakable inspiration once again, Vignesh recounts how the film had two characters become nemesis because of ideological differences. “Similarly, Super Hero has Sandy master playing the antagonist. He is not your typical super villain, but just like how Arjun Das transforms into a superhero for his younger brother, Sandy’s affection for his elder brother pushes him to a place where he has to clash with Arjun Das’ character.” On whether Sandy’s character in Lokah inspired his casting choice, the director says he cast the choreographer-turned-actor in Super Hero well before he joined Lokah.

Also starring Teju Ashwini, the upcoming film is being produced by KS Sinish’s Soldiers Film Factory. It is worth noting that Vignesh worked as an assistant in Sinish’s directorial, Balloon. Shanjan G is also backing Super Hero under his Redacted Studios banner. Hesham Abdul Wahab is on board as the music composer for the upcoming film, continuing his collaboration with Arjun Das after Once More. The crew of Super Hero also includes cinematographer Sathya V, editor Lawrence Kishore, production designer Sakthee Venkatraj M, and action choreographer Dhilip Subbarayan.

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