Actor Shiva, who plays the lead role in Paranthu Po, opened up about working with filmmaker Ram and his co-stars Grace Antony and Aju Varghese in an interview with Cinema Express ahead of the film’s release. The film, which hit theatres today, has opened to positive reception.
Speaking about Grace Antony’s casting, Shiva said, “Ram sir is very specific when it comes to choosing his actors. He doesn't cast people for arbitrary reasons. He carefully went through Grace’s filmography before deciding she was the right fit. She has delivered an extraordinary performance and completely lived up to his expectations.”
Shiva also spoke about Aju Varghese, who marks his Tamil debut with Paranthu Po after acting in over 140 Malayalam films. “Working with Aju made me realise how passionate he is about cinema and entertaining audiences. He may describe many of his roles as small, but it’s no easy feat to build such a vast body of work. That speaks volumes about his dedication.”
In the same interview, both Grace and Aju mentioned that it was Nivin Pauly who suggested their names for the roles in Paranthu Po. Nivin worked with Ram in Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Mazhai, which is yet to hit theatres. The film also stars Soori and Anjali in lead roles.
Paranthu Po stars Shiva, Grace Anthony, and Master Mitul Ryan in lead roles. Anjali, Aju Varghese, Vijay Yesudas, Dia, Jesse Kukku, Balaji Sakthivel, and Sreeja Ravi round out the ensemble cast. The film had its premiere at the 54th International Film Festival of Rotterdam earlier this year.
The crew of the film includes NK Ekhambaram as the director of photography, Mathi VS as the editor, Kumar Gangappan as the production designer, and Stunt Silva as the stunt master. Ram, V Gunasekaran, V Karupuchaamy, and V Shankar are producing the film. JioHotstar, GKS Bros Production, and Seven Seas Seven Hills Productions are backing the film.
