Vijay will be a surprise package: Suresh

Actor Pa Vijay and director Suresh Krissna talk to TOI on their flick Illangyan...
Suresh Krissna, a director who has made several superhit films such as Baasha and Veera, and Pa Vijay, a successful lyricist-turned-actor, have just one thing in mind these days ��������� Rainbow. ���������We���������ve become very close to her,��������� they say.
They���������re referring to the specially-built ship for their upcoming flick Illangyan, a period film.The brainchild of art director Thota Tharani, the ship, according to the duo, will be the highlight of the film.
���������Yes, it���������s going to be the Superstar of the film,��������� says a visibly-excited Pa Vijay, who plays the lead role in the film. ���������It is, in fact, like a character in the film and we had a blast working in it.��������� Agreeing with him is Suresh. ���������The climax of the film will revolve around the ship,��������� he reveals.
But, it wasn���������t an easy task for the two and the Illangyan team. ���������When we finalised the script, written by Kalaignar, we knew that we had to film it on a ship,��������� recalls Suresh, ���������So, we went to Vishakapatnam to look at the ships there. The problem was they were all modern structures and our story is based on events that unfolded a few decades ago!���������
That���������s when Thota Tharani stepped in to provide a solution. ���������He showed me a book titled Ship and it had pictures of ships from the older days,��������� he adds, ���������We took the pictures in the book as a model and decided to create a ship.���������
It was a logistical nightmare but three months later, they finally came up with a massive structure that suited their story requirements. ���������We had 1000 people up on the ship on some days and it���������s still quite strong,��������� he says, adding, ���������When it comes to performances in the film, Vijay will be the surprise package. A lot of people who criticised his move from writing lyrics to acting hailed his performance after they saw the rushes.���������
For the lyricist-turned-actor, Illangyan posed another set of challenges. ���������There are so many superb actors in the film, including Nasser, Khusbu and Meera Jasmine besides others. I had to stand out,��������� explains Vijay, who plays the lead role in the film which is about a youth sparking off a revolution, ���������But, my knowledge of Tamil came in handy. I could relate to the dialogues written by Kalaignar. I worked on my acting and thanks to Suresh���������s guidance, the scenes have come out really well.���������
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