At the Neelira pre-release event, actor Naveen Chandra opened up about his experience working with Karthik Subbaraj's Stone Bench Studios for the fifth time, his role in the film, and more.
The Inspector Rishi actor revealed how the film came to him. "While I’ve been busy with films and web series, producer Kaarthekeyen Santhanam approached me and narrated the story of this film. I told him I’d listen to the story from director Someetharan. After hearing it, I was amazed by the producer's choice of story. He has chosen the right script, and I feel proud to be a part of it."
Then, Naveen shared a small insight into the role he plays in the film, saying, "In this film, I play a captain. Beyond that, I won’t be able to reveal much about my character." However, he is confident about the film's output. "But I’m sure all of you will like it when you watch the film. For this project, the director carefully selected actors from different states like Assam, Mumbai, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu for each character," he continued.
Naveen, who has previously worked with the Stone Bench Productions banner in films like Jigarthanda Double X, was in high praise of the production house. "The respect given to actors during the shoot made me very happy. I’ve now acted in five films with Stone Bench Studios. It feels like my own production house. What’s special here is the sense of equality—everyone is driven by a passion for cinema, and there’s a shared enthusiasm to create meaningful content. Every actor in this film has worked with dedication for their roles," he shared.
On his relationship with Karthik Subbaraj, he added, "Whenever director Karthik Subbaraj watches my scenes, I always feel a sense of nervousness—whether I’ve performed well or not. I hope I’ve done justice to my role."
Helmed by Someetharan, Neelira also stars Vidhu, Kapila Venu, Sanath, Roopa Koduvayur, Rohit D Kokate, Kayal Vincent, Swathy Krishnan, Tharmeega Manimaran and Sidhu Kumaresan. The tagline of the film reads 'A Long Night'. The film is also billed to be based on the memoirs of a war child, as per the makers.
The cinematography of Neelira has been handled by Selvaratnam Pratheepan, while the editing is done by Radha Sridhar, who has worked on films like Hey Sinamika and Ammu. K is the film's music composer. Kaarthekeyen Santhanam is backing the film along with Karthik under their Stone Bench banner. Rana Daggubati and Kalyan Subramanian are co-producers. The film will hit theatres on April 3.
