Kannan,Mani Ratnam’s former assistant, is three films old and now all set to rock K-town with Settai, the remake of Hindi blockbuster Delhi Belly. The commercially successful film was criticised for its abusive language and bold scenes. “I changed the script to suit the local palate,“ is how Kannan starts off his conversation on the sets of Settai at Binny Mills.
Delhi Belly is the story of three youngsters and how their dreams come true in a funny and complicated manner. Retaining the core theme, we have subdued the crudeness and adult content and modified a few characters, like that of Santhanam’s, and made it a family entertainer.
You will see a fresh looking Arya in this film. He has no airs and is a very cooperative and dedicated artiste. Even in break time he wouldn’t go to his vanity van. He would prefer to sit with the team and discuss about the next shot and scene.
Hansika is a director’s delight. She is always keen to learn and reach the next level in acting. Having shed a few kilos she is the perfect choice for Madhu, the airhostess played by Shehnaz in the original. I wanted that `rasgulla’ look that she now has, for my film. South audiences don’t appreciate skinny girls.
The whole project took off because of Santhanam, I would say. He was the one who was mainly responsible for the execution of Settai. It was the Mokkai Rasu character (who was not there in the original Jab We Met) in my earlier film Kandein Kadhalai that gave him a big break. He willingly came down on his remuneration as well!
Yes there were few steamy scenes such as the lip-lock in the car and lovemaking between Imran Khan and Poorna Jagannathan as in the original. Anjali, who reprises Poorna’s role, was very apprehensive about these scenes. I had to coax her and tell her that it would be subtle and not explicit, and she finally agreed. We also shot the bedroom sequences with minimum technicians and once it was okayed after a few takes, Anjali thanked me for keeping my promise.
I must thank my producers UTV who spent huge amounts to make it possible for me to complete 40 per cent of the work in just 20 days. The five-star hotel set put up by Videsh at Binny Mills alone cost 2 crores.
It will be a fun-filled family entertainer shot in a fresh, new style. Nazer and Premgi are also part of the project. Thaman has scored the music and P.G. Muthiah is behind the camera.
