Director Sherief: I want to give memorable characters to all my actors

If you're friends with director Sherief - who recently made his directorial debut with Vaibhav's Ranam Aram Thavarel - chances are that a unique incident from your life will make its way into one of his future scripts. In Ranam, for example, Vaibhav's character suffers from a condition called Transient Ischemic Attack. Sherief shares that he came to know of the condition from a friend. "A friend of mine was diagnosed with this condition after he met with an accident. This stroke-like condition paralyses him and makes him go blind for a couple of minutes, all of a sudden. I did my research back when he disclosed this to me, and kept material ready in my library. While writing Ranam, I felt that this condition would be apt as a plot device for Vaibhav’s character Siva."

Transient Ischemic Attack is not the only aspect inspired by real life in Ranam. Sherief reveals that he also learnt about the existence of crime writers, Siva's side business in the film, from a friend. "Someone I know is a scriptwriter, and he has also written such crime stories for various ongoing investigations," Sherief says, explaining that such writers are employed off the record. "Often, cases will have evidence summing up to a crime, but the crime will still be insoluble. Police officials then ask such crime writers to pen their version of the crime, unofficially, to get a fresh perspective. Again, I did my research about this and while writing Ranam, I realised that it fits perfectly in this thriller world."

With these characteristics of Vaibhav's character being novel on the one hand, Sherief has also made an interesting choice by making the actor essay a straight-faced role. Although a milestone 25th film for Vaibhav, the film is a make or break for Sherief. "While writing the story itself, I penned my lead, unlike cliche thriller protagonists. Further, as we began casting, I wanted someone who has never played such a character in the past as my lead," Sherief shares adding, "We thought of actors who have only had an extroverted onscreen persona and Vaibhav was perfect for playing this serious character."

Coming to the central focus of the film, Necrophilia, the director shares that a court verdict from Karnataka roused him to make a film about it. "Last year, I read a judgement in Karnataka for a murder and rape case. As the perpetrator had first murdered and then raped the lifeless body, he was only sentenced to one-lifetime imprisonment because the rape of a corpse is not a punishable offence," he says. But that was merely the tip of the iceberg for Sherief. " I started researching and I found that this happened to a famous sex symbol's mortal remains in the 90s in Tamilnadu. Further, while I thought that necrophiliacs would be more common in foreign countries, I was shocked to read about one such criminal in Trichy who dug up bodies out of graveyards for his fantasy. It made all the more sense to make a film on the topic, considering how unaware we are about the existence of such a big problem," he further explains.

Apart from creating awareness about Necrophilia, Sherief says that his aim was to also convey a message against perpetrators getting away with crimes proclaiming diagnosis of psychological disorders. "Even in the notorious Dhasvanth case, in which he burnt a 3-year-old child to death, the defence tried to close the case with the “psychological disorder’ argument. I strongly believe that psychological issues have become an easy excuse for people to get away with the horrifying crimes that they commit, and that should not be the case," he says.

Further Sherief believes that a crime like Necrophilia goes against all religious faiths. He explains, "Almost all beliefs profess that a person’s soul achieves liberation only after the last rites are performed appropriately, be it burial or cremation. And when such horrifying crimes are committed on bodies, it also goes against the faiths of most." Ranam too ends with a card that says that the mortal remains of a person is equal to the person themselves, and any crimes committed against the latter should also be penalised to the same extent.

While the many unique concepts and an almost reinvented Vaibhav are interesting enough, Ranam also stands out for its female characters. While Tanya Hope plays Inspector Indhuja who solves the case along with Vaibhav's Siva, Nandita Shwetha plays Kalki, the victim, and also the avenger in the film. Sherief says that he has always been inclined towards writing strong women characters. "I felt that a female police inspector would give the audience a breath of fresh air, as opposed to the macho male cop as the lead of most thrillers. I wanted to write a female character to travel along with the lead, who is fully serious, with no hints of romance or comedy," explains Sherief. He then zeroed down on Tanya Hope after watching Dharala Prabhu. "I watched Tanya’s performance in Dharala Prabhu and found her to be convincing for my character. She too felt this role would be refreshing for her, as she has always played comical or romantic roles."

Sherief has many more dreams for his time in the industry. "Of course, I want to work with all the big stars. I am a big fan of Vijay. I also want to work with Rajinikanth sir, and have a unique character penned for him," he shares. While he is unsure about his next at the moment, he is sure about one thing. "No matter whom I work with, I want to give them memorable films, and I think I have achieved that with Ranam," he concludes.