By Kushsmita Dhevi Jaya Ram
Known for his deep socio-political stories, renowned director Mari Selvaraj has taken an unexpected yet ambitious turn with his most recent film, Vaazhai. Selvaraj’s next film is a children’s picture, which he feels is the ultimate test for any director, in contrast to his earlier works that dealt with sophisticated adult topics.
Selvaraj recently discussed the difficulties and benefits of making movies for younger audiences in an interview. “Directors who really want to put their skills to the test should work on children’s films,” he said, highlighting the particular challenges that come with working in this genre.
Selvaraj claims that creating captivating and morally uplifting stories for children’s movies requires a careful balancing act that also takes the audience’s cognitive and emotional levels into consideration.
Like his earlier works, Pariyerum Perumal and Karnan, Selvaraj’s Vaazhai, which translates to “banana tree” in Tamil, is expected to be a story full of cultural allusions and symbolism. But with Vaazhai, he wants to examine childhood, innocence, and the relationship between people and the natural world from a child’s perspective.
The filmmaker’s entry into the children’s film industry is a reflection of his larger goal of making pictures that appeal to a wide range of audiences and make a significant contribution to the field of cinema. With the excitement surrounding Vaazhai growing, Selvaraj’s method is set to present a novel viewpoint on the influence and possibilities of kid-friendly filmmaking in modern Indian cinema.
