Director and actor Pari Elavazhagan, who made his directorial and lead acting debut with Jama, recently returned with his sophomore, Anbe Diana. Also starring Ramya Ranganathan and Parithabangal-fame Gopi in prominent roles, the film opened in theatres on July 17 to largely positive reviews.

Recently, a success meet for the film was conducted in Chennai, where Pari opened up about the trust the producers placed on him and how it helped him deliver a film like Anbe Diana. Further, the director explained why he titled the film Anbe Diana and a motivation he received from Vijay Sethupathi early on.

Pari revealed that Vijay Sethupathi was one of the first people to listen to his story. 'When I narrated the story to Vijay Sethupathi sir, he encouraged me, saying, 'At this stage of your career, making Million Dollar is the right move.' He even spoke to producer Yuvaraj on my behalf. I'll always be grateful to him," he explained.

On the support he received from his producers, he continued, "A producer trusting a director's script completely is a blessing. Not once did they ask me to change a scene or rewrite a dialogue. They trusted every word I had written." He then elaborated why their trust meant more for the commercial film. "It's understandable when producers don't interfere in an art film. But this was a commercial film, where everyone usually has an opinion. Even then, they never asked me to change a single dialogue or scene. I'll always remain indebted for that trust."

For the unversed, Ramya Ranganathan's character is called Magic Diana Gonsalves, but the name 'Magic' is used predominantly across the film. On why he named the film Anbe Diana and not Anbe Magic, he continued, "Someone once asked why we didn't title the film Anbe Magic. If we had done that, the word 'magic' would have lost its impact inside the film. I believed that the word would become special only if audiences discovered it during the movie—and that's exactly what happened."

Lastly, the actor-director had a message about perseverance. "Anyone who wants to succeed in life needs stubbornness. If you truly believe in something, you have to hold on to that belief. I was stubborn that I had to make this film, no matter how many other options were in front of me."

Anbe Diana, also starring Chetan and Roja, is currently running in theatres.