It’s not easy to make it big in films and Vasanth Balan seems to know it. He stepped into film direction with ‘Album’ after assisting Shankar. He has been keeping away from films for quite some time now but that doesn’t mean that he has called it quits. Making a surprised turn-around, he is directing ‘Veyil’ produced by his mentor Shankar. The film has Bharath and Bhavana in the lead roles and the hype around it is going out of control. Now, the director himself speaks about the film.

Excerpts from the interview:

What made you name your film ‘Veyil’?

I named the film as ‘Paalya Nathi’ at first but Shankar was not sure if people would understand it. However, an idea struck me when the recording of a song that goes 'Veyilodu uravadi, veyilodu vilaiyadi' was on. This made me settle on ‘Veyil’ as the title.
 
Tell us about the source of the story of the film.

The story of the film is a fusion. It’s a bit of my life, my observations, a bit of my father’s story and that of my friends. I have narrated the story in a commercial manner to attract the audience. I first wrote as a novel and then filmed it by visualizing the scenes.

What was Shankar’s reaction on hearing your story?

He asked me about the specialty of the film. He listened with great attention when I told him that it is my story. Tears filled his eyes on hearing my story and left half way through, as he just couldn’t listen to the rest of the story. He called me the next morning and said that he could not sleep that night because of the impact of my story. He suggested on making it a film, and so I grasp the chance.

Who are playing the lead roles in the film?

It has Bharath and Bhavana in the lead pair and you know they are acting together for the first time. Shankar suggested Bharath and I selected Bhavana, as her performance in her debut film was impressive. Pasupathy also plays an important role.

Is it true that the music of the film was scored by a new composer?

Yes, it’s true. Hit music director A.R.Rahman's nephew G.V. Prakash Kumar has composed the tunes. He had earlier sung many songs under Rahman. Shankar was doubtful but I was sure that he has the talent on hearing his demo C.D. I convinced him to let Prakash work in the film.

 
So, how is his music?

Simply brilliant. He has composed seven soothing songs that are like the seven colors of rainbow. You know, I wanted the songs to have clear lyrics delivery with less instrumentation in order to represent the periods of 1970, 1985 and 2006. He did exactly what I wanted.

What are the highlights of the film?

Ekadasi has not only written wonderful lyrics for the film but also has made an appearance. We worked around the Therkathi Karumaathur area for almost three months in order to shoot a song sequence in front of a Karuppusamy temple. Folk singers Kodaisamy, Karisal Karunanidhi, Madurai Chandran and Azaguthayee have rendered for the film and the number “Aruva minuminunga” is something you can look forward to. You will experience the scorching sun of Tamilnadu through the film.