Virat Kohli’s living incident inspired ‘Test’: S Sasikanth

When he saw Mani Ratnam’s 1986 classic Mauna ragamWhen he was slightly more than ten, S Sasikant was mesmerized by the filmmaker’s beauty with art director Thota Tharani. “I still remember all the details … the main entrance of the ten feet, the spiral ladder, the wood forgedSpherical courtyard, and furniture. The whole film was beautiful. Sasikant decided that he would either become an architect or a filmmaker. Mudhalavan), Sasikant contacted Mani Ratnam for an internship. “But he said,” You have already become an architect, why don’t you take that path. “

As advised, Sasikanth proceeded with architecture, established his company Space Skeep with his wife. When cinema bug Bit Sashikant again, he was 35 years old, “was very old to become an assistant director,” and so, he chose to become a filmmaker – because “why not?” After all, this was a term that could let him learn film production by hand. And thus the journey of Sasikant’s highly successful production banner, YNOT Studio began.

And now, after more than a decade, after producing 20+ films, the architect-turn-producer finally realized the dream of his direction, ordered the upcoming Netflix drama, ExaminationStarring R Madhavan, Nayantara, Siddharth and Meera Jasmine.

Along with Netflix India boss Monica Shergill, Sasikant explained how architecture fuel her filmmaking.

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It is interesting how both architecture and film production are married between creativity and economics. Do you always have a storyteller, Sashikant?

Even in architecture, you become your first audience. A design is a story that you tell yourself. Therefore, even for cinema, you need a designer mentality; You cannot take an all-activation or all-scientific passage. I look at those films like how you design a house. This is something that is naturally yours, but you are always for someone else. So I saw myself as a storyteller, who could see the film making from a design perspective to tell a story.

S Sasikanth | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Was you working in the architect films in you?

Yes. When I first came, the industry was bent to start a project through stories. But as an architect, I always saw plans as a way to express all my creative energies. You have to communicate with your customers that abstract creative things can also have a scientific document. Right from the first project, we instructed that each project be seen, understood and cured through script and development.

The architecture system is also very collaborative. I can be an architect, but I will need a plumbing engineer, structural engineer or mechanical engineer. This film is like making; So many people need to work collaboratively.

Siddharth as Arjuna, Lareish Rahav as Aditya, Meera Jasmine as Padma, Nayantara as Kumudha, R. Madhavan as Saravanan in ‘Test’. Photo Credit: Ms. Anandan / Netflix

So I think you will do a pre-vision for all your scenes?

Yes, every place was drafted. We went and marked where the camera would be located. We used the studiobinder to map everything, and even the movements of the actors were choreographed. Everything was on paper, and so we had a visual Bible. So I did not have to be there, and no one could look at it and fulfill it. I look at filmmaking in terms of design, so I need all the locations covered before before allowing any experiment.

You said earlier that you thought about the story of ‘Test’ many years ago; As like the years progressed and cinema increased its own development?

It was then a very plot film. The original idea was of a cricketer and what happens to him, but being a David fincher fan, I always wanted to join the psychological studies of the characters. It’s easy to write Examination And call it the ‘test of characters’, but this is not the idea. Then I saw Virat Kohli’s interview; When his father died, an 18 -year -old Kohli still packed his bags and played the Ranji Trophy match for Delhi. When the interviewer asked him how he managed to do it, he said, “Not playing was never an option.”

When a cricketer enters his territory, what a cricketer is watching, I opened my view about what a cricketer is watching; It is something like a superhero story arch that he is ready to sacrifice all those individual bits for something more. Those decisions make you a hero or villain. When he (Kohli) is just walking away from that house, I am sure that many people must have thought, ‘What kind of person is he?’ But then, he proceeds to receive the praise of millions. Sometimes, narrowness is seen with a very negative meaning, but such DNA is required to go for leaders. This gave me a great insight on how a player thinks and sees life. I wondered if that characteristic was also present in the common people, and it was the beginning of character development.

Monica, you have collaborated with Sasikant on ‘Aley,’ Mandela ‘and’ Jagam Thandhiram. What was your first response to collaboration with Sasikant as a director?

Monica Shergill: I have never seen Sashi as just a manufacturer. He always surfaced as a manufacturer-cum-producer. When we saw ExaminationIt was amazing to see this to detect a film after a long time. It tested the values ​​and morality of the characters. These days the cinema we see is very high, which is too much on the plot, and we are searching for more characters in the series format. with ExaminationThe plot depends on the characters and their choice. I could see the architect in every frame. Because he is an architect who can create a beautiful space, and therefore, he could make the spaces in the film, but he clung to what was necessary and outlined the setting so that the eligible would shine.

Monica Shergill | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The four leads of ‘Tests’, especially Madhavan and Nayantara, are stars who have stood on the test of time. What do you think is the secret of his long life and to keep a long career in a profession like cinema?

As we go through life, we gain so much experience. For example, through 15 years of being a manufacturer, after producing 25-odd films, there have been several test time. I understand the idea of ​​a test that it means what it means to take the documents of your home, give them to the bank and say, ‘Let’s release this film and take a chance.’ You need to push that place. We wanted these actors, the reason for this is that they have also gone through life. The fact that they are still here means that they have already won. They know how to fight. Nayantara to become a superstar for 20 years and the kind of roles that go after Madhavan … all of this is qualitative.

Sasikant, how excited you are about the reunion with the ‘Brahmagam’ team for the upcoming Pranava Mohanlal-Starrer?

It is exciting. The film is already on the floor. We have always been material-operated and have tried to pursue boundaries. As the case was BrahmagamWe had to face specific obstacles that needed to cross. But we are super excited. The team is already in the second week of shooting.

Can we expect materials like ‘adolescence’ from Monica, Netflix India?

Monica Shergill: It depends on the creators. I really feel that Netflix is ​​here to tell high quality stories for very diverse audiences. Adolescent There is a fantastic, a show on time, seeing what we all are experienced. What is important to do is that we keep coming close to our audience, to reflect that time, and to tell very powerful stories. We are telling great stories, and Examination An example of this is.

There are very complex audiences in India; This is contrary to many markets and since I work in Netflix, I experience many markets. There are very odd viewers in India, so it is important that the creators also understand which audience they want to talk to. As a platform, we are to talk to all the audience. For us, we are Netflix for all. This is the journey on which we are. We want to become the most beloved service, and it is important to identify, make and commission the idea-easement stories that can entertain a wide set of viewers. It depends on the creators what kind of stories they bring and what they want to say. So we are here, and I hope that we become stronger and stronger than the kind of stories that we tell and what the creators in India want to say to the Indian audience and audiences around the world.

Test premiere on Netflix Friday, 4 April