Asin: Kaavalan is not like Sivakasi or Pokri

Asin returns to Tamil after a long gap with Kaavalan directed by Malayalam director Siddique.

Vijay plays Asin's Kaavalan or bodyguard in this Pongal release.

Over to Asin.

Do you feel any difference in the way a Tamil film of yours is releasing as compared to a Hindi film? Is the feeling the same?

It's like your film releasing in your own language and in another language! The feeling is not the same. That is because you are familiar with the Tamil audience and their tastes. As I am quite new to the Hindi film industry, having done just two films, I am not that familiar with the audience and their tastes. Here, I am familiar with the audience and the audience is familiar with me and that is a big difference.

So, are you excited about the release of Kaavalan?

Yes, I am excited. This is my first time working with Siddique sir and my third with Vijay. Kaavalan is not like Sivakasi or Pokri; it's a love story. This is the first time that Vijay and I are doing a proper love story. Its not a typical commercial film with fights, koothu pattu and comedy but a good love story. Sivakasi and Pokri were the typical masala festival films but this is different. So, I am waiting to see the reaction of the people.

Did you enjoy shooting for the film?

I had a great time. Most of the film happens in my character's house. I stay in the house with my friends and go to college from there. So, a set was erected at Pushpa Gardens in Chennai exactly like the original house that was taken on rent in Kottayam for the Malayalam version. We shot in the house for almost a month. The shoot used to start by 7 in the morning like all Malayalam films. So, I used to get up by 4.30 in the morning, get ready and be there before 7. Some of the days, the shooting continued well into the night as we had night scenes too. Naturally, we got so attached to the house that we started feeling at home there.

Later, when we went to Pushpa Gardens to shoot some other scene in the garden, we found that the house was not there. You can't imagine how bad we felt. We had spent so much time in the house that we had got attached to it as if it was our own.

Were you attached to any other set like this before?

No. There were many grand sets erected for many other films of mine but we never spent so many days on a set before. Here, it was supposed to be my house and for a whole month, I practically lived on the set. Only to sleep, I used to go to the hotel. So, when we went to the garden again to shoot a song, we were all shocked not to see the house.

Where were college sequences shot?

We shot at the VIT (Vellore Institute of Technology). I think after Endhiran, ours is the next film that was shot there. We started shooting at VIT during the holidays. It was a lovely campus and we lived there itself. We had healthy canteen food. It was like eating in the college hostel.

We had to go back to the college again to shoot a few scenes which we could not complete during the college vacation. It was total chaos then with all the students there. Needless to say, we were mobbed. There were scenes in the classroom and as the classes went on, students would pass their books to me to sign autographs. And though the teachers fired them for doing so, they still did it anyway. Some of the students had exams the next day and they whispered to me many times, 'tomorrow is my exam. I don't know what I am going to write'. I must say I had a great time with the students.

What kind of outfits did you choose for your role as a student?

Oh, they were just casual t-shirts and jeans.

How was Vijay as your Kaavalan (bodyguard)?

He was a damn good Kaavalan! [Laughs] Very dutiful, very sincere. He performed his duty very well. I think he rocked in Kaavalan as Kaavalan. It was good fun.

Did you at any point speak to him about his political plans?

No, we just had fun. I don't ask him about all that. That is his personal space. In fact, we were pulling each other's legs all the time. Siddique sir used to say, 'Asin, be serious'. The scene may be serious but if my back is to the camera, I used to make faces and Vijay found it difficult to emote then. He used to complain to Siqqique sir,  'see what she is doing. I cannot control my laughter! '

How was it being directed by Siddique?

I am a huge fan of the Siddique sir's Malayalam comedies. I grew up watching them. I am also his daughter's classmate in school. As a person too, Siddique sir is so humorous that I ended up laughing on the sets. He used to crack jokes in Malayalam and I would roar with laughter. He is also very soft spoken and cool on the sets. I never saw him lose his cool.

You said shooting started at 7 in the morning. How different is it in Mumbai when you're shooting for Hindi films?

In Mumbai, shooting starts only in the afternoon. My friends here say I am made up of some other material to get up so early in the morning. They ask me, how can you get up at 4 am? Nobody gets up so early in Mumbai. But I adjusted to both working styles. I am quite at home in Mumbai also though I am an early morning person.

Will you watch Kaavalan on the day of its release?

Of course. I have watched all my films on the first day in a theatre with the public. I want to see the audience's reaction. When we were shooting, Vijay, myself and our whole gang went and watched Endhiran at Mettupalayam. When Dabangg released, we were shooting in Chennai but we still went to watch it in a theatre. I am not bothered if people try to mob me or ask me for autographs. I have to watch films in a theatre. I make sure that I watch all the new films in a theatre. Similarly, I will be watching Kaavalan on the first day.