Aug 18, 2017
Director Shakti Soundar Rajan, who is
currently busy with the post-production work on Tamil cinema's first
space film "Tik Tik Tik", says it was challenging for him to explore
the genre within the commercial cinema format.
"In this genre, to crack a story that everyone understands is really
tough. What's even more challenging is to put space in a commercial set
up. There are not too many elements to play with when you're in space,"
Shakti told IANS.
The film's teaser was released earlier this week and it gave audiences
a glimpse of the space adventure.
After successfully reinventing within the commercial set up with Tamil
buddy cop actioner "Naaigal Jaakirathai", centered on a German shepherd
and Zombie thriller "Miruthan", Shakti is introducing Tamil audiences
to space genre.
Shakti clarifies it's not a desperate attempt to make another
first-of-its-kind genre film.
"Everything happened organically. The film has been written in a way
that it takes the story organically into space," he said and added that
the title literally translates to ticking of the clock and will justify
the race against time space the film falls into.
The film stars Jayam Ravi, with whom Shakti had previously worked in
"Miruthan".
"Two weeks after the release of 'Miruthan', I met Ravi to discuss the
idea. He was excited and was ready to come on board immediately," said
Shakti, admitting the writing process was very challenging.
"The writing process, especially the exhaustive research work, took us
nine months. That's the time that's usually spent on writing, shooting
and making a regular commercial film," he said.
"Initially, we spoke to a retired scientist from ISRO (Indian Space
Research Organisation) and got the basic facts right about everything
related to space -- the space shuttle set up, the kind of work that
goes on ground and in space during a mission and the important
decisions that are taken," he added.
Once the research part was cleared, Shakti found the writing process to
be relatively easier.
Talking about the film, which is slated for release later this year,
Shakti said he drew inspiration for "Tik Tik Tik" from the Spaghetti
western and films like "Apollo 13" and "Armageddon".
He calls it a "men on a mission" kind of film, and assures it's not a
"dry science-fiction film".
"I'm a huge fan of Grindhouse movies by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin
Tarantino and I intentionally make my films look superficial. It's not
that I aim high and it misses and goes low. I aim for a B-movie because
it helps me connect with the masses easily," he explained.
The film also stars Nivetha Pethuraj, Ramesh Thilak and Singaporean
actor Aaron Aziz.