Who I am, where I’m from & what I say are important to me: Pa Ranjith

Pa Ranjith reflected on his initial days in the film industry during a masterclass at the ongoing 22nd Chennai International Film Festival, where his Thangalaan was screened. “I initially planned to become an animator because I thought I’d then get a monthly salary of 20,000,” shared the acclaimed filmmaker.
‘I WROTE STORIES IMAGINING VIJAYAKANT SIR AS A VILLAIN’
“I started writing when I was in high school. I used to really like Vijayakanth sir; I have even written stories imagining him as a villain. I remember, during my seventh grade, I acted in a play, but as I couldn’t deliver the dialogue well, they had me dancing to Aattama Therottama from Captain Prabhakaran wearing a tribal costume. As I danced well, the crowd even said, “Once more’,” said Ranjith, adding, “When I had my first love, I also tried writing poetry.”
‘PEOPLE USED TO TALK ABOUT THOSE WHO READ BOOKS IN A BAD LIGHT’
Opening up to a room full of young and aspiring filmmakers about taking his first steps into the world of films, Ranjith stated, “The questions, ‘Who I am,’ ‘Where I’m from,’ and ‘What I’m going to say’ were important to me. And I wanted to discuss that with people. I decided in the fourth year of college that I would be in cinema. When I was an assistant director, people I saw and spoke to had no interest in serious cinema. They used to talk about those who read books in a bad light and say that we cannot make commercial cinema.”
Sharing an incident that took place when he was an assistant director, the Thangalaan director remarked, “Once I was reading the book Soodhadi, and a director made a ridiculous comment. To clarify, it was not VP sir (Venkat Prabhu, who he assisted)! VP sir understood me very well.”
‘VP SIR WAS MORE LIKE A STUDENT THAN A TEACHER’
Ranjith also delved into working as an assistant director under Venkat Prabhu and said, “When I joined VP sir, he was more like a student than a teacher. When I saw a film like Chennai 600028 be so well-received, it inspired me because a film that I had worked in showed that we can also make such stories without heroes.”