Director Dharani Rasendran: Yaathisai will reflect society’s thirst for power

As we are weeks away from the release of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan II, a film that proclaims the pride of the Cholan empire, one more historic epic film, Yaathisai, based on the Pandiyas hitting the screens one week earlier. Helmed by Dharani Rasendran, the film stars only newfaces and is made with a surprisingly tight budget. The debutant wishes to clear off all the comparisons to Ponniyin Selvan. "Both are completely different films. I specifically wanted to make a film on the Pandiyas as there's very less documentation about the empire, unlike Cholas. Yaathisai focuses on Ranadheera Pandiyan, one of the most powerful rulers  and his contemporary clans like the Einars and the Devaradiyars." He adds that he would have made a film on the Cheras or the Pallavas if there were more works on the Pandiyas. "The idea was to make a film about Tamil pride, while also educating the audience on unknown history."

Set in the 7th Century, the story starts at a period when the Pandiyas had captured most of the Chola lands and had set their reign in many parts of the South. "When an emperor of a dynasty waged a war, smaller kings supported him. In this story, the Einars are one of the kingdoms that fought alongside Cholas in the war against the Pandiyas. A clan that once led a prosperous life, the Einars are destroyed and reduced to poverty when the Cholas lose the battle. Forced to move to the forests and lives as as nomads, they decide to wage a war against the Pandiyas."

The characters in Yaathisai speak an obsolete form of Tamil, a language that cannot be understood even by native Tamilians. While it is a risk in terms of commercial viability, Dharani chose to archaic Tamil because, "In my opinion, when a story from a particular period is presented, it is eseential to recreate the language spoken during that time." Sangam literature was his go-to reference material to determine the language of the period. " I made a list of all the words that are now obsolete and created a language that I felt might have been spoken during the Pandiya period. The process was tedious, but scholar Thirumurugan Kalilingam helped me out," he states.

The USP of a film like Ponniyin Selvan is its star cast, crew, and production value. Yaathisai, on the other hand, has an entire team of newfaces. Asked about his bold choice, he says, "Four years ago, when I was an independent filmmaker, I had many beginners in my cast. So, when I got the opportunity to make Yaathisai, I did not want to leave them behind."

Though Dharani was also given a given budget that was a perfect fit for his vision, that also meant no wastage of money. "We put in a lot of effort in pre-production. We prepared a storyboard for every scene in the film and executed it perfectly. We removed only one scene in the final scene. We made the actors rehearse their scenes, shot the rehearsals and edited them to see where we went wrong. Steps like these helped us utilise the given budget effectively," he shares.

While the plot of Yaathisai encompasses conflict between various kingdoms on the surface, Dharani reiterates that the film also has a psychological angle to it. "Through Yaathisai, I have explored the power dynamics in politics, and this is applicable to real-life politics of any place at any time. The film will reflect society’s thirst for power over human values," Dharani signs off.