Ninaithale Inikkum
"The first thing we ensured when we commenced shooting for 'Ninaithale Inikkum' was that the story should undergo minor changes to suit the Tamil audience", says G N R Kumaravelan, who is remaking Malayalam hit 'Classmates' as 'Ninaithale Inikkum'.
"Remakes should reflect the culture of the land in which it is being made into", the son of veteran film maker G N Rangarajan, says and adds: "our venture would be an apt example to this."
Prithviraj, Priyamani, Shakthi, Karthik, K Bhagiyaraj and Vishnu play lead roles in the movie. Produced by Gemini Film Circuit and distributed by Sun Pictures, the movie has music by Vijay Antony. The camera is handled by Balasubramanian of `Pithamagan' fame.
Kumaravelan, who says it is no easy task to remake a successful film, explains the reason. "For, one has to live upto the expectations of the original. Lal Jose's 'Classmates' set in a college campus had fun, frolic and emotional elements. We have recreated the same in Tamil".
Thanking his artistes, Kumaravelan said, `everyone was co-operative. Prithviraj was articulate on the sets. Priyamani and Karthik were thorough professionals while Shakthi was cool.'
Heaping laurels on Vijay Antony, he said, `all six songs are different from each other. They have really come out well.'
`I played the same role in the Malayalam version as well, but now I am doing it with the perspective of a different filmmaker. I can feel a lot of changes,' says Prithviraj.
Initially I had some apprehensions about doing the role. However Kumaravelan impressed me with his ideas. He made the script look so fresh in Tamil, he adds.