Koorman director Bryan B George: Interaction with a mentalist friend inspired me to make the film

Tamil cinema's tryst with the thriller genre has resulted in several superhits and the latest film hoping to join that illustrious list is debutant director Bryan B George's Koorman. Starring Rajaji, Janani and Bala Saravanan in main roles, the film is about a man gifted with the ability to read people's minds. The director apparently got the idea while interacting with his ‘mentalist friend’. "There are different types of mentalists. While some can mindread numbers, some guess letters. It's an incredible skill and I thought it would be great to try and use it in a serious subject. That's how I landed on this idea of a cop with mind-reading skills," says Bryan.

The director also credits filmmaker Vetri Maaran as an inspiration, particularly the latter’s practice of cultivating crops from his organic farm. "My character carries a lot of emotional baggage and hardly speaks. He prefers leading a secluded life with his caretaker friend, a pet dog, and an invisible companion. There are also other reasons that demanded an isolated setting like this, which you will realise when you watch the film," says Bryan, who began his career as an associate director in Thegidi, which featured Janani in the lead.

Eight years later, Bryan is now working with her in Koorman. "She is one of the few actors to have a strong command over the Tamil language. As the film is made with a moderate budget, we didn't want to have the added pressure of having a heroine who doesn’t speak the language. Janani read the bound script and agreed to do the film right away," adds the director, who feels that his other lead, Rajaji of Moodar Koodam and Enkitta Mothathe fame to be an "'underrated actor who hasn't got the opportunity to showcase his potential yet. We had a workshop prior to the shoot as we wanted him to completely understand the character's psyche. Rajaji hung around like he were someone from the direction department, and this helped him understand the process better."

So fascinated is Bryan with the idea of mentalism that he is already nurturing sequel plans. "In Koorman, the protagonist has the ability to mindread letters and decode names. I would like to go on to explore an anti-hero subject with a character who can mindread numbers. It's just an idea that I'm toying with. Everything depends on the public's response to Koorman."

The film, also starring Aadukalam Naren, Praveen and Muruganantham has music by Tony Britto and cinematography by Shakthi Arvind. Bankrolled by Mathanakumar of MK Entertainment, Koorman is planned for release this Friday.