Rajkumar Periasamy: Mukund never wanted any other identity other than Indian and Tamilian

It has been a week of joy and celebration for the team of Amaran, starring Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi in lead roles. The biopic on Major Mukund Varadarajan and Indhu Rebecca Varghese, directed by Rajkumar Periasamy has received positive responses from all quarters and earned over Rs 100 crore mark at the box office within just a few days of release.

However, the film go down well with a section of audience as they accused the director of hiding Mukund's caste identity. Speaking at the success meet of the film which was held in Chennai on Monday, Rajkumar Periasamy opened up that it was a deliberate decision and that Mukund wanted to never wanted any other identity other than Indian and Tamilian.

He explained, "Indhu Rebecca Varghese had only one request. She wanted me to cast someone who had strong Tamil roots, as Mukund was a Tamilian. I found Sivakarthikeyan to be a typical Tamilian and that's why he came into the film. 'Achamillai Achamillai', a song by tamil poet Bharathiyar, is now being played in its original form in other languages as well. The day Sivakarthikeyan sang the song with his daughter, I could see the film's success. I know how Sivakarthikeyan's presence is a huge strength in the film."

He also revealed how Mukund's wife Indhu Rebecca Varghese, a native of Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, wanted the film to have a Tamil identity. "Similarly, his parents had a request. Mukund fondly used to call his dad Varadarajan 'naina' and his mother Geetha 'sweety' everyday. They mentioned that Mukund always wanted to tell the world that he was an Indian. He never wanted any other identity other than Indian and Tamilian, even in his certificate. They requested me to give him only those two identities as an army man in my first meeting with them," he added.

Rajkumar also mentioned how he made the film as a tribute to Major Mukund Varadarajan. "His caste was never an important aspect to the film in my eyes. When we went to late Mukund's home, they never asked us [about caste] nor did we. That's how we have taken the film. Major Mukund Varadarajan was an Ashoka Chakra awardee. Amaran is a respectful gift to sacrifice and hard work. I trust that I have done justice to his legacy through this film."

Amaran also has Bhuvan Arora playing Sepoy Vikram Singh and Rahul Bose as Mukund's Commanding Officer, Colonel Amit Singh Dabas.

The supporting cast of the film also includes Lallu, Shreekumar, Shyam Mohan, Ajaey Naga Raaman, Mir Salman and Gaurav Venkatesh. It is based on Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh's book India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Millitary.

Amaran's technical crew includes music composer GV Prakash Kumar, cinematographer CH Sai, editor Kalaivanan, and stunt director Stefan Richter. The film is bankrolled by Kamal Haasan's Raaj Kamal Films International along with Sony Pictures International Productions.