Mani Ratnam opens up on overcoming obstacles for Navarasa

Filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan have united to present the Tamil anthology film Navarasa, the proceed of which will go towards the well-being of film workers in Tamil cinema who are hit by the Covid pandemic. The filmmakers who stayed away from the direction for the project faced few difficulties while putting together a nine-part anthology.

Hyderabad: Mani Ratnam and Jayendra Panchapakesan took up a mammoth task of putting together a nine-part anthology, the proceed of which will go towards the well-being of film workers in Tamil cinema who are hit by the COVID pandemic. The short films will feature over 40 cast members and several hundred creative and film technicians who worked with nine directors for the project. Bringing together the talents was a challenge but not bigger than having everybody on the same page while making the anthology.

Actor Prasanna with actor-director Arvind Swami

When asked about how they overcame obstacles while making a massive project like Navarasa with the number of artists involved and nine directors working on different wavelengths, Ratnam in a virtual interview with film critic wanted Jayendra to answer the query but the latter broke into laughter which hinted that making Navarasa was a tough ride.

Actors Siddharth and Parvathy Thiruvothu in a still from Navarasa

The 65-year-old filmmaker without going into details of they pass the obstacles for the film said, "I think is true for any situation you know I mean you have the similar problem when you make a film and you don't see eye to eye with the actor. So, you have to convince. You have to go about it in such a way that it is right for the project. Sometimes there are these small difficult moments that you have to cross and I think that's the part of the challenge, part of the excitement."

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When quizzed about if he and Jayendra being creative producers for the project had arguments, Ratnam's one-word answer was "No." Jayendra, however, revealed that they used to fight about "Who talks to a person?"

Actors Suriya and Prayaga Martin in a still from Navarasa

Navarasa will be based on the nine rasas or emotions. In sync with the theme, nine short films will narrate stories across nine emotions -- anger, compassion, courage, disgust, fear, laughter, love, peace and wonder.

Actor Vijay Sethupathi in a still from Navarasa

Directors Arvind Swami, Bejoy Nambiar, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Karthik Subbaraj, Karthick Naren, KV Anand, Ponram, Rathindran Prasad and Halitha Shameem are on board to bring their distinctive perspective on each rasa. The cast and crew involved in the project have offered their services pro bono, with the objective of supporting the COVID-hit Tamil film industry.

Navarasa will be released on Netflix on August 6.