Actor Sampath Raj, known for playing the antagonist in films across the Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada industries, was recently seen in Revathy's web series directorial debut, Good Wife. During an exclusive conversation with CE while promoting the series, the actor opened up about working on one of his career's best, Aaranya Kaandam.
Speaking about the cult status of the film, the actor shared, "Aaranya Kaandam did not only receive cult status but has also become like a Bible to a lot of filmmakers. Many big filmmakers have openly said that they've been inspired by Aaranya Kaandam in one way or another. Kumar prioritised nuances in the film, because of which it has become a talking point in any film discussion."
Sampath then shared an instance from the film's sets to talk about Thiagarajan Kumararaja's collaborative nature. "The film's success can also be attributed to the way Kumar collaborated with every single artist in the film. Even if a child artist in the film asked to look at the monitor after a shot was approved, Kumar would show it to him, and if the actor requested a retake, the director was open to it," he said.
Furthermore, Sampath shared a personal anecdote about his first shot for the film. "The first shot I took for the film was the one that comes after the climax sequence. My character Pashupathy would pick up Jackie Shroff's phone, and someone would call out to him as "Ayya," to which my character would say, "Ayya illada, Pashupathy." Kumar was so particular that when I said Pashupathy, he wanted my right foot to come up at a particular angle. To understand Kumar's meter and perform that one line to perfection, it took me 22 takes. I even thought of giving up, as a lot of unlearning was required from my side. Kumar then said that he has seen me as Pashupathy and that he can't imagine anybody else in the role. Eventually, by the evening, I fell into his groove, and from there, it was a rollercoaster ride."
Lastly, the actor, who was full of praise for the director, added, "Kumar is a brilliant actor himself. When he narrated the story of Aaranya Kaandam to me for the first time, he acted out the five lead characters. He knew the script by heart, because he would tell me a narrative shift and would correctly turn to the page on the script where it happens. The most notable aspect about the film, which came out 15 years ago in 2010, is how back then Kumar showed that the woman is the strongest character."
Apart from Jackie Shroff and Sampath Raj, Aaranya Kaandam also stars Ravi Krishna, Yasmin Ponnappa, Guru Somasundaram, Master Vasanth, Boxer Arumugam, and Sai Dheena, among others. The directorial debut of Thiagarajan Kumararaja, the film is the first neo-noir flick in Tamil cinema.
