Wrote 'Vidiyum Munn' for Hollywood, says Balaji Kumar

Chennai, Nov 19 (IANS) Upcoming thriller "Vidiyum Munn" was originally written for Hollywood audiences, says its director Balaji K. Kumar, who then decided to make the film in Tamil because he felt its dynamic subject suits Indian viewers more.

Balaji had previously written and directed an English thriller, titled "9 Lives of Mara", and he has been working in Hollywood for over a decade.

"I wrote the script keeping in mind the Hollywood audience, but later realised it was not intense enough for them. I felt the dynamic subject of 'Vidiyum Munn' will suit Indian audiences more than anybody," Balaji told IANS.

The story of the film, which is about child trafficking, revolves around four men, three reasons, two women and one day.

"In India, children are abused on a daily basis. On an average, at least 1,000 children are abused in a day. This is my attempt to create awareness about child trafficking and I don't intend to send across any message because I'm no messiah," he said.

With this film, actress Pooja Umashankar returns to Tamil film industry after a hiatus of four years. She is a beauty with brains, according to Kumar.

"It's not easy to find a beautiful and talented actress and vice versa, but Pooja is an exception. She is a wonderful actress and knows how to merge her beauty with talent in her performance. She has both the worlds (beauty and talent) in her," said Balaji, who was in awe of her work in Tamil films such as "Naan Kadavul" and "Oram Po".

Balaji roots for the child artist Malavika Manikuttan, who plays an important role in the film.

"I think she (Malavika) has the strongest role in the film. She was brilliant in expressing a gamut of expressions, ranging from fear to tension to love, effortlessly. My partner Leena referred me to her and at that time, she was doing a television show in Malayalam," he added.

"She performed a ten-minute monologue on the show. She played a blind girl in it and I was blown away by her performance. We met soon after that and I signed her on," said Balaji.

The film, slated to release Nov 29, also features Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, Vinoth Kishan, John Vijay, Amarendran, Muthukumar and Ruben.

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Vidiyum Munn