AR Murugadoss at Padai Thalaivan audio launch: 'I have seen Captain Prabhakaran 60 times'

AR Murugadoss was among the special guests at the audio launch of Padai Thalaivan, starring the late Vijayakanth's son Shanmuga Pandian in the lead role. Murugadoss reminisced about his past association with Vijayakanth both as an audience member and as a crew member. "It is considered that I know Captain from Ramanaa (Murugadoss' 2002 directorial), but I know him from before. It is a different thing that I saw him as an audience member in the theatre. I have enjoyed his films, just like you. I have seen Captain Prabhakaran 50-60 times. I would clap for every dialogue before it came," said the Thuppakki filmmaker.

AR Murugadoss also addressed a common notion about how villains are more handsome than heroes in his films. "There should be a big trust on the hero's part to make the villain handsome. If you think about it, Captain started that trend," the filmmaker said.

Murugadoss also spoke about the altruistic nature of Vijayakanth, citing examples of how the actor ensured his crew members had the best food available to them. He then made a special mention of how Vijayakanth asked his stunt crew to not use a body double for a major action sequence featuring a helicopter in Captain Prabhakaran, while telling his wife that they used one. "Many actors do the stunts on their own or use body double, face replacements, or CGI, yet claim that they did it themselves. However, for the first time, I saw an actor doing the action sequences on his own, yet magnanimously giving the credit to the dupe."

The filmmaker added that hearing that from Vijayakanth made him very respectful of the actor. He then talked about the resemblance of the eyes between Vijayakanth and his actor son Shanmuga Pandian. "Tamil cinema has gotten a grand hero. Grow up (as an actor), and we will take Ramanaa 2. We will bring back Captain to the screen."

Speaking of which, reportedly, Padai Thalaivan also stars an AI version of Vijayakanth.