As Suriya's 'Thaana Serndha Koottam' emerges the clear winner in Pongal box office race, we caught up with director Vignesh Shivan for a phone chat in which he sportively clarifies doubts of our reviewer and shares insights about the making of the film.

What was Suriya's reaction when he first saw the completed film?

"He was very happy and said that he enjoyed seeing him the way he is portrayed in the film and loved the experience.

Why is it difficult to get you for interviews especially for a personal one?

"During interviews one has to be diplomatic and cannot speak truths and am probably not for that but otherwise it is not that I am against giving interviews."

Did you get to watch the film in theaters?

" I did and that too with Suriya sir . There was tremendous response from fans which made me super happy".

Did you choose the 80s period to cover up logical loop holes in the story?

"Not at all the film is based on a true incident that happened in '1987 and the Hindi film 'Special 26' was based on that.  We got the rights and when I got the opportunity to direct, I took it up even though I was keen only to film an original script.   To be frank I did not want to miss the opportunity to direct Suriya sir and thus worked to the best of my abilities within the given framework. 

You made changes to the script right?

"Yes I was intent not to make 'Thaana Serndha Koottam' like 'Special 26' and thats why when people compare I find it amusing as my intention was to make a completely different movie based on the core idea.  I would say that I was given a bicycle asking to cover a 100 kilometers and I have done so with the best speed I could travel and within my strenghts."

You have stated in the film that corruption can only be fought with corruption?

" In day to day life we find that we have to sweet talk for everything, like telling a child that we would get him a chocolate if he does something likewise money is the ultimate corruptor. For a few thousand rupees a qualified person loses a job and another gets it and that money is hoarded somewhere and if that is taken from the looters and used for the people it would be great.  But after thirty years its 2017 and the situation has not changed and in fact has become worse. 

Vignesh Shivan's trademark is casual dialogues that convey bigger meaning and even in TSK its so hard hitting like the ones spoken by R.J. Balaji.  How do you come up with that ?

"I always write my scripts alone and dont even hold discussions but the R.J. Balaji scenes he himself improvised and did a great job."

You deal with death and other emotional episodes lightly be it in 'Naanum Rowdydhaan' and 'TSK' where not much is dwelt on in Kalaiarasan character's suicide'....

Basically I dont like negativity, especally showing it on screen, even in my first film there is a death of a child and it is shown offscreen. I also dont enjoy gore or blood and it takes extra effort to convey emotions without resorting to it and I enjoy doing it my way."

Dont you feel that the unemployment issue that you set out to tackle was diluted due to the characters using the money?

"In reality even if I get 1Crore rupees I would keep twenty lakhs to myself to satisfy my needs and then spend the rest on a cause.  I did not want my characters to be all white and needed them to be as regular guys as possible." 

About choosing Suresh Menon for the 'Uttaman' character...

"I generally dont like to type cast actors and when I saw Suresh Menon's picture in a facebook post thought I could use him as the villain.  But when I met him he turned out to be a very soft person and I had to work on his looks to make him effective.  Gautham Menon has always been very helpful to me like when giving me the 'Yennai Arindhaal' song when I was out of work.  When I asked him to dub for Suresh Menon he immediately said yes and that has elevated the character. 

Vignesh Shivan shares many more details about casting Karthick, whether there could have been a single villain instead of two, Keerthy Suresh being under utilised, friendship with Anirudh etc in the audio interview below.