'He Wants To Keep Improving': Scene Director Jithu Madhavan On Suriya's 20 Retakes For 1 Scene

He delivered two Malayalam blockbusters, Romancham and Aavesham, and now filmmaker Jithu Madhavan is set to make his Tamil debut with Scene, starring Suriya. For Jithu, irrespective of the language, the focus remains on serving the story and making a film that audiences will enjoy. Produced by Suriya and Jyothika, Scene stars Suriya, Nazriya Nazim, and Naslen and is all set to release for Diwali on November 6.

In this exclusive chat with NDTV, the director talks about what drew him to Tamil cinema, his experience of working with Suriya, and why he believes the boundaries between regional cinema are gradually disappearing.

"After Aavehsam, Suriya sir asked whether I had a story that could be made in Tamil. When I got the story of Scene, I felt it could be presented in Tamil and that Suriya sir would be right for the role. I narrated the story to him, and he liked it; I thought I could finish another film (Balan: The Boy) before we went on set since he would be busy with other commitments, but we went on floors in a month or so," begins Jithu talking about Scene.

Many Malayalam directors have not moved into Tamil cinema in recent years, so was the language an issue at all? He says, "I wasn't particularly worried about it. I tend to go with the flow and don't overthink things. Doing something big or small, or working in a different industry, doesn't scare me. I know Tamil, speak and understand it, and can judge the dialogues. That is important because my films rely heavily on dialogue."

Ask him what inspired him to write Scene, and the filmmaker says he can't talk about the story. "I'm keeping some small things under wraps because I want audiences to experience the film without knowing them in advance. It isn't necessarily a huge surprise, but the impact will be better if people go into the theatre without those details," says Jithu.

Working with Suriya is an experience nearly all directors rave about, as he is known to be a committed, hard-working actor. And Jithu is no different when he says, "He is very professional and eager to make a good film. His focus is on giving his best and making the film better. I didn't feel that he was a bigger star or that the challenges were bigger because of his stature. He never made me feel that way; I had a similar experience working with Fahadh Faasil."

Malayalam actors Nazriya Nazim and Naslen also joined the cast, but the Balan: The Boy writer explains that this casting happened organically. "It didn't happen deliberately; it came together one person at a time. Nazriya was in my mind from the beginning for that role. Her character is on a fine line and could go in different directions, so I wanted someone who could make it feel natural. She has a natural way of presenting humour, and I felt she nailed it. And I had always wanted to work with Naslen," he smiles.

One aspect that struck him about Suriya while shooting is that the Tamil star would ask him if a shot was OK after every single take. "He would keep improvising, and I also would make suggestions, and he would never tire of the many retakes. In fact, I remember we did 20 takes for one scene constantly improvising in every take. Even before I can process one take, he'll be ready for another, bringing a different nuance to the performance each time. It was like this was his first film. Usually, stars are satisfied when the director says 'OK,' but Suriya wants to keep improving and improvising till we get the best one," he praises.

But Scene's crew also had many from the Malayalam film industry, and Jithu attributes this to the comfort and creative freedom that come from working with people he trusts and whose abilities he understands. Some unconventional crew choices, though, had Suriya a little nervous, but he trusted the filmmaker.

"My cinematographer, Vineeth Augustian, was relatively new, and the editor, Ajmal Sabu, had worked as a cinematographer on films, including Premalu, and had not edited a film before. Suriya asked me why a cameraman was becoming an editor and why I was bringing in a cameraman who had never shot a film. Ajmal is fundamentally an editor who became a cinematographer almost by accident, and I believe in his editing strengths. He had edited the trailer for Romancham, which I felt helped draw people into theatres. Suriya was willing to see how things went and believed we were going to make something good. He trusted the process," emphasises Jithu, who is also introducing popular Malayalam music director Sushin Shyam to Tamil cinema with Scene.

Diwali is a time when big films release in South India, and along with Scene, India's biggest film Ramayana: Part 1 is set to release along with Nayanthara's Mookuthi Amman. However, Jithu dismisses concerns about box office competition and says, "I'm probably foolish enough not to worry about that. I don't take result-oriented pressure on myself. People must have expectations after a director's successful films; that is why we work to make good films. We have to deliver to those expectations rather than blame the audience for having them. Through promotions and updates, I try to intrigue and give people a sense of what kind of film they are coming to watch. Suriya, Karthi, and I watched the film together, and they really enjoyed it. Dark comedy is definitely part of me and part of this film."

The director roped in YouTuber and Parithabangal fame Dravid Selvam to pen the dialogues for Scene, and he says working with him was a barrel of laughs. "My friend Goutham (who was my colleague when I was working in IT in Bangalore) translated the first draft of the script into Tamil. I wanted someone who understood the audience's pulse and knew how to place dialogue punches at the right moment. The writer had to be spontaneous and work with me through the entire shoot because I tend to make changes on set. Dravid and I clicked at our first meeting, and the journey has been great," he notes.

While Jithu was busy with Scene, his story Balan: The Boy was directed by Chidambaram and went on to become a raging success. "Around the time Scene was to go into pre-production, Chidambaram asked me if I had any good scripts. I'm a big fan of his, and I told him about Balan: The Boy that I had been planning. He liked it and took up the project. I was happy with its success," he elaborates. Would he have directed this film differently? "Of course. My way of presenting a film is very different from Chidambaram's, so I would have presented it differently. It was interesting to see the collaboration."

The Malayalam filmmaker has received offers from the Hindi and Telugu film industries but he is taking his time to explore them. "I take up only one film at a time and my next film is in Malayalam. I'll decide what I want to work on post that," he says candidly. Meanwhile, there are a lot of expectations from him and Suriya for Scene. The interesting trailer seems to suggest that Suriya may be a cop, a villain, or perhaps playing a dual role. When you ask Jithu about this, he laughs and signs off saying, "It took a lot of effort to create that confusion, so I don't want to clear it up in one word!"

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