CHENNAI: Filmmaker Saravanan whose previous directorial was Trisha’s Raangi last year is now ready with his next film, Naadu that stars Bigg Boss fame Tharshan and Mahima Nambiar in lead roles. “It is about a story that happens between a person living in the mountains and a doctor from the city. I wouldn’t want to call them tribal because they have become a part of the outer world and aren’t in seclusion anymore. They are updated about what is happening around them and Naadu dwells around that,” Saravanan told DT Next.
The film that releases on December 1 has Tharshan playing a person from the hilly region and Mahima Nambiar, a doctor. “I had a list of actors who could justify the role. They both ticked all the boxes. Tharshan’s role is that of a villager, who represents his entire clan and speaks for them while Mahima is a doctor, who lives amid the hustle bustle of city life and is ambitious. They have pulled off their respective roles well. Tharshan is known for playing urban roles. He would look completely different in this and we had a workshop prior to the shoot, which helped him in getting into the skin of the character,” added the director.
The script of Naadu is inspired by first-hand incidents that Saravanan witnessed. “I wrote the story during the lockdown. Based on medical emergencies, the film speaks about people living in mountains who are deprived of medical facilities that we in the city avail and also about how the need for awareness should extend to them as well. This is also the reason why I have named the film as Naadu. People in kaadu (Forest) also belong to our nation and have every right to avail facilities like all of us. It has a strong message to it,” he concludes.