PremiumExclusive! With Super Sharanya, I wanted to show the perspective of a normal girl with all her flaws: Girish AD
The Thaneer Mathan Dinangal filmmaker talks about his next release, which has Anaswara Rajan, Arjun Ashokan and Mamitha Baiju as part of the cast
Last Updated: 04.05 PM, Jan 05, 2022
With Thaneer Mathan Dinangal in 2019, Girish AD made a stellar debut by springing a surprise superhit sans any stars. Now, the filmmaker is hoping for an encore with his next film, Super Sharanya. The movie once again is a youth-centric tale without the backing of too many established actors. Anaswara Rajan, Mamitha Baiju and Naslen play the central characters along with Arjun Ashokan in the entertainer.
OTTplay caught with Girish, who is eagerly awaiting the release of the film in theatres on January 7. Ask him what his state of mind is especially with the movie being a follow-up to Thaneer Mathan Dinangal and he says, “Everyone will want to deliver another hit with their next film. So, I am hoping the same.”
While both movies have teenagers as central characters, Girish says, “There’s a difference in perspective, as in this movie is told from a girl’s side. Also, it’s made on a bigger canvas compared to Thaneermathan Dinangal.”
On how the experience of working in his debut film has helped his sophomore effort, the director says, “This film was comparatively easier for me to direct. I believe I have tried to improve on the cinematography. This is a continuous process; even after watching the final version of Super Sharanya, I have felt there are areas where I could have done better.”
Considering that he had already done a youth-centric movie, why repeat the genre? “I still don’t think I have the confidence to make a movie with a big star. Super Sharanya was a project that took shape quickly; I had this thought and all of us were excited about it,” he says. “Also, I have felt that most of our women-centric films had shallow central characters. The women are portrayed as ideal personalities who take on societal norms. But we hardly get to see them in their everyday lives. That’s why I wanted to do a film where the protagonist is a girl and showed her perspective with all her flaws and quirks.”
Ask him if he had done his research while presenting a film from a female perspective and he says, “I think it’s when you go deep into the research that you create the characters that we are used to seeing. The central character in this film is based on my thoughts and ideas, and I was curious to see how it would turn out if it was a girl.”
Thaneer Mathan Dinangal was also lauded for its “natural” performances of its lead actors – Mathew Thomas, Naslen and Anaswara. Super Sharanya too have young faces leading the cast. “Personally, I felt it was easier to extract performances out of them because at their age, they are dedicated and you are able to mould them any way you want. They aren’t artistes who have learnt so much about acting and so they are flexible in their craft,” he explains.
But do their real-life personalities also lend themselves organically to the characters? “To a point, we do let their real personalities seep in because we give them the freedom and space to perform the way they want. If you try to curb that totally, it impacts the performance. But we do try to keep a limit because you don’t want their mannerisms influencing their characters’ a lot. I think the natural performance that you see on screen is a result of their relaxed mindsets on the sets,” says Girish.
With two youth-centric films in the bag, what next? “I have two scripts in mind – one written by my friend and another that I have penned. However, there’s still no clarity on when I would start work on my next film. But the next movie will be a different genre with more experienced talents,” he concludes.