Mani Ratnam reveals he wished to make Alai Payuthey with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol: ‘I advised him the story and he agreed’

Veteran filmmaker Mani Ratnam opened up about his early plans for Alai Payuthey and his collaboration with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. He revealed that the unique concept was to make Alai Payuthey with the enduring duo, however an important factor of the story wasn’t absolutely realized on the time, main him to shift to Dil Se.
Talking about his inventive course of, Ratnam defined, “I wished to do Alai Payuthey with Shah Rukh and Kajol and I advised him the story and he agreed. However I had not cracked the final factor of the story… So, we shifted to Dil Se.” It was solely after ending Dil Se that Ratnam was in a position to remedy the lacking piece and return to his imaginative and prescient for Alai Payuthey, however not with out reservations.
“As soon as I used to be ending Dil Se, I used to be in a position to remedy this downside… and I used to be nonetheless taken with doing it. You might be by no means positive you bought it appropriate… Even whenever you’ve written absolutely, whenever you shoot, you’re on the lookout for one thing extra as a result of it is nonetheless getting constructed,” Ratnam defined.
The Tamil-language romantic musical Alai Payuthey starred R Madhavan and Shalini, and was later remade in Hindi as Saathiya, that includes Rani Mukerji and Vivek Oberoi. The Hindi adaptation of Alai Payuthey was directed by Shaad Ali.

When discussing his method to filmmaking, he highlighted the significance of actors in bringing the story to life. “Actors have to return and make it alive; if they do not accomplish that, you possibly can shout at them,” he joked.
Ratnam additionally mirrored on the challenges his earlier movies like Roja and Bombay confronted with the censor board, however he by no means felt threatened by the controversy. “You aren’t taking sides or making an attempt to propagate something; it is simply the angst, ache. So, I by no means had that concern,” he shared.
Nevertheless, he famous that instances have modified, and at this time, he would probably method sure matters extra cautiously. “After I began the movie, for a second I didn’t suppose it will likely be an issue. Immediately, most likely I am going to suppose twice earlier than I consider it.”

On the character of his movies, Ratnam clarified that not all of them are political. “Some are,” he admitted, “After I really feel I’ve one thing to mirror, that is once I make it. And inside that story, there shall be human beings. It’s politics by means of human beings.” He emphasised that the political context is all the time woven into the characters’ private lives and relationships.
“For me, it’s about reflecting life by means of characters, by means of their lives. No matter you are making an attempt to say, you weave it by means of a standpoint,” mentioned Ratnam.