While Hollywood cinema’s origins could be traced back to vaudeville, Tamil cinema descended from the loquacious street plays. So, its long-standing marriage with the inherently verbose courtroom drama genre is a match made in heaven. Joining Tamil cinema’s rich history of legal dramas is the upcoming film, The Verdict. Starring Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Sruthi Hariharan, Vidyulekha Raman, and Prakash Mohandas, the upcoming film is curiously set in the USA. “The Verdict is a combination of a thriller and a courtroom drama. I’ve played lawyer roles before, but this film is set in the US, where the legal proceedings are different. A good part of the dialogues are in English and some of the cast are American, so I thought that the challenge would be interesting to tackle,” says Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. She then adds, “It gets boring if you’re not challenged as an actor.”
Even though the film is set in another country, the actor believes that the story doesn’t necessarily have to justify its location every time. She says, “Sometimes you need the story to justify the setting, but it can also act as an exotic and aesthetic choice. Audiences are used to watching films from other industries as well. We can relate to English language films set in London because stories are relatable, and that is the key factor, not the location. We have seen films set in Thoothukudi and then stories set in Kerala. In The Verdict, the story happens in Texas.”
Varalaxmi believes that the dearth of courtroom dramas in Tamil cinema has very little to do with our seeming disinterest in the genre. “Genres don’t die,” she says, before continuing, “We might not be getting a lot of courtroom dramas in Tamil the way we used to get in the 80s and 90s, but that doesn’t mean we have completely lost interest in that format. Genres are seasonal. Suddenly, we might witness a spree of thrillers or adult comedies or horror films or mass masala films. Cinema goes through its cycles.” Varalaxmi then points to Jai Bhim as a recent example of a Tamil courtroom drama.
Ruminating on the seasonal changes in cinema, Varalaxmi reflects on how even trends and aesthetic choices go through their own cycles. “The 80s used to be the go-to era for a nostalgic setting, but even the aesthetics of the 90s and early 2000s are mined for nostalgia nowadays. Films set in the 80s might be considered period films now,” she says in a lighthearted tone, before adding, “I guess that’s life.” On the topic of period films, Varalaxmi shares how she would like to be a part of films with a historic setting like the Baahubali duology, Troy, and Gladiator. She then adds, “I would also love to do comedy films. I’ve signed on to do a couple of comedy films in Telugu, and I'm looking forward to them. Madha Gaja Raja, the recent comedy that the actor starred in, went on to become a box-office hit despite its delayed release. “It is a vintage comedy and you get to see Santhanam in a full-fledged comedy role after a long time. It’s been a while since we saw that kind of mass masala entertainer,” says Varalaxmi, dissecting the surprisingly healthy box office reception of the film, which was initially planned for a release in 2013.
“I think I will eventually end up directing films,” says Varalaxmi, on the topic of her future plans. However, she feels that her passion for acting has not been completely satiated. “I will move on to the next step only after my passion for acting has been satiated. I don’t think anybody has leveraged my full potential as an actor yet,” she signs off.