Kamal Haasan recalls coming across six fan theories predicting Virumaandi's story while its production was underway: ‘The fifth one was actually really good'
While Kamal Haasan's contributions to Indian cinema are immense, his directorial Virumaandi (2004) remains a fan favourite, particularly owing to its smartly intricate narrative based on the Rashomon effect. The third movie to feature him at the helm after Chachi 420 (1997) and Hey Ram (2000), Virumaandi featured Kamal himself as well as Pasupathy, Abhirami and Napoleon in the lead roles and ended up becoming a major critical and commercial success.
Interestingly, the actor-filmmaker recently shared that fan theories and plot predictions existed even back then, and recalled coming across a few while making Virumaandi, adding that he liked a few of them. At the trailer launch of Thug Life, which marks Kamal's reunion with ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam after 38 years since Nayakan (1987), the duo was asked whether they had seen any posts speculating about the upcoming movie's plot. In response, Kamal quipped that if they started reading such posts, their story might end up changing accordingly. 'Some stories would actually be good,' the actor said.
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He added, 'While the shoot of Virumaandi was going on, I came across at least six stories. I thought, 'The fifth one is actually really good. But what to do? The production is already underway.' I replied to the person who wrote it (the fan theory), saying I would consider this story for one of my future movies. I told him, 'Your story is actually very good. But I have already decided on another story, and mine is not the same as yours.''
Besides being celebrated for its technical brilliance and exceptional performances, Virumaandi also created quite a bit of controversy right from its production stage onwards. The film was initially titled Sandiyar, a Tamil term that glorifies a rowdy or a goon belonging to an oppressor caste in the Southern region of Tamil Nadu.
The Thug Life trailer launch also witnessed some deeply emotional moments, as actor Abhirami — who played the female lead in Virumaandi and now portrays a key role in Thug Life — teared up on stage, overcome with emotion. Sharing that she was left speechless after watching the trailer and seeing the audience's reaction, a teary-eyed Abhirami said the moment awakened the little girl Divya (her birth name) within her. 'Love you, sir; love you both,' she told the two legends, her voice trembling with emotion. 'I still can't believe that such a thing happened in my life.'
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On the occasion, the anchor recalled that Divya had adopted the screen name Abhirami out of her admiration for Gunaa (1991), in which the female lead Rohini (Roshini) is called Abhirami by the protagonist Gunaa (Kamal Haasan). In a touching gesture, Kamal consoled Abhirami by calling out to her the way Gunaa did for his Abhirami in the film. Overjoyed, Abhirami shared a warm hug with Kamal on stage.
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