Remarriage or even falling in love for the second time finds a way to expose our society's blatant hypocrisy. Curiously, if children are cited as the reason for a single father to remarry, the same reason is used to force a single mother to maintain her status quo. Director Sasi's upcoming film Nooru Saami, starring Swasika and Vijay Antony, discusses this sensitive issue. "People assume that a single mother will leave her children to fend for themselves if she seeks another partner. Nooru Saami's Selvi (Swasika) is a model mother; she is the best mother. She toiled day and night for years to educate her two boys and made them attain a respectable position in society. Since she has already ensured her children are taken care of, is it okay for Selvi to find a partner now? Through this film, I'm asking society this uneasy question, but with a sweet coating," begins Sasi.

Similar to Pichaikkaran, Nooru Saami too was inspired from a true story. Sasi also adds that the story made him reflect on how he viewed his mother. "I got to know about the real characters through a reality talk show. This story made me realise how I didn't give my mother a lot of attention. I still do not know my mother's phone number by memory," shares an honest Sasi, as he adds that he is still a work-in-progress on this aspect. "Now when I talk to my mother, I look at her eyes, and give my complete focus. We should not take mothers for granted. They are aware of our disrespect and overlook it only because they love us unconditionally."

Nooru Saami has Sasi returning to the rustic milieu after his critically acclaimed 2008 film Poo, and he says that it was a welcome change for his visual aesthetics. "If you see the trailer, where the scenes shift between Ajay Dhishan-Kavya Anil portions and the Vijay Antony-Swasika portions, you can see a lot of tonal changes. We would have played with vibrant colours and a brown tone in these portions," says Sasi, pointing out the necessity to set the film in a rural background, and explore themes like gender bias and caste inequalities. "There is a very stark contrast between rural and urban women. Women in the cities enjoy more freedom, but are less enterprising when compared to women in villages. When Nooru Saami focuses on this contrast, it will also emphasise the necessity of self-assertion for rural women, which could make their lives better. In fact, I had an English title for the film first, which was more appropriate. But I went ahead with Nooru Saami for reach."

Sasi reveals that his research helped him capture the peculiarities in Kallakurichi, the place of action in Nooru Saami. "One unique thing about the place was that wherever you place the frame, you'll find a red saree or a red towel, as most of them are Melmaruvathur devotees. So the landscape with a red material somewhere or the other in the frame looked beautiful, and we blended it into storytelling," he shares, as he recalls the difficulties in designing the looks for both Vijay Antony and Swasika. "My biggest task was to make people forget Yasodha (Lubber Pandhu) when I show Selvi. We did experiments with both Vijay Antony and Swasika's skin textures and made sure they follow the mannerisms of the real-life persons their characters are based on to make them look distinct."

The promotional materials suggest that Nooru Saami would be antithetical to the understanding of mothers that Pichaikkaran presents. Sasi asserts that Nooru Saami will showcase a more relevant and realistic picture of a mother. "That is why we had the tagline stating that Pichaikkaran saw mother as a goddess and Nooru Saami will see her as a human. While elevating a mother to that divine status, we tend to be dismissive of her human needs. Though Nooru Saami is antithetical to Pichaikkaran, it is gently so," he says, and stands by both films by adding that Nooru Saami and Pichaikkaran are two haunting tales of two exceptional individuals. "I would have still made Pichaikkaran as it is even if I had been aware of the true story behind Nooru Saami. Pichaikkaran originated from an extraordinary story of an affluent businessman who chose to beg for six months a year for five years to get his mother cured of a serious illness. I mean, someone born with a silver spoon, decides to leave it all to beg for six months a year for his mother. Why would I not tell his story?" He goes on to tell that Nooru Saami, too, is about one such individual. "Nooru Saami will nudge you to revisit your opinion on mothers without guilt-tripping you. We are killing the life of mothers by calling them goddesses. We should respect their individuality. They have lives of their own and we are not their proxies. My film cannot uproot a deep rooted belief in society, but it hopes to shake those beliefs, at least a little."

Sasi also firmly hopes that Nooru Saami's emotional impact will be similar to that of Poo. He shares a personal anecdote where he was moved by a gesture of his fan after the release of Poo. "It was around the Deepavali season, a stranger with a textile store bag at my doorstep thanked me for making Poo. He said that he buys sarees for his elder sister every year for Deepavali, and this year, when he was at the store, he gave her a call to ask what her favourite colour and designs were. That fan said Poo made him realise that women have hearts, opinions, and likes and dislikes. I was moved to tears. I sincerely hope that Nooru Saami makes you feel the same about your mothers," signs off an emotional Sasi.