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Siva Anant is known to wear many hats. He is a writer, lyricist, director and actor. For Ponyin Selvan, he functions as an executive producer – he has already done so for other Mani Ratnam films like Kaatru Veliday and Waiting for Chivantha Vaanam. “It brings immense joy to know that the film is performing well in every region. Distributors and theater owners said the film is performing better than they expected. Namma padatha mathavanga rasikirapo adhu namakku oru perumai dhaan,” Siva says with a smile as we sit down for a chat in the Madras Talkies office, now filled with models of swords used in PS.
Siva has previously been vocal about how the role of an EP is different here than in Hollywood and other film industries. Although he has done this job before for other films, he says that a film like PS redefines the meaning of work for him. “The film is produced by Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions and the roles of both the organizations are well defined. Madras Talkies will handle the shooting and production process – which starts with casting and ends with post-production work. My role in such a film is to follow the director’s creative decisions and make sure everything is followed,” says Siva. “PS is a dream project for Mr. Mani and to make this dream a reality, we had to change the rules. Subaskaran sir (Lyca Productions) and Mani sir took on the monumental task of adapting an epic novel and it was our job to make sure there was no redundancy or wastage. The cast and crew also collaborated, with actors willing to grow facial hair, go bald, learn horse riding and fencing, and learn to speak classical Tamil. Their willingness to be part of the team made it easier to execute the plans.”
Since the EP’s role also includes setting salaries for the cast and crew, the conversation turns to numbers. “Talent compensation is an important step and we make sure nothing untoward happens. With the big stars and technicians there is really no negotiation; that only happens with talent at the next level,” explains Siva, who was responsible for both the two crores that went to talent and significantly smaller amounts that went to expenses like travel and accommodation. “Veen akanumna enge venalum veenakalam. Whatever you see and feel on the screen should be worth spending, and for the rest, the less we spend on it, the better. We have an auditing team and my line producers and production managers negotiate everything including talent, equipment and location. We give them budgets to stick to and that’s shared with the auditors, who email us if everything’s under control.”
Siva, who has worked with Mani for over 20 years, recalls that Mani wanted to revive this project many times. “This time it fell into place because of the decision to shoot it as two films. Baahubali it also proved that people accept films from an era in which an older version of the language is spoken. We also believed that we had the technological power to make such a project happen now. I’m not surprised it took this long to make this film happen, considering how the technology was in its infancy in the 80s and 90s.” Aside from the usual difficulties of handling such a large cast of talent and the making of a period film, PS also presented Siva and his team with new challenges. “For example, all the actors wore real gold jewelry, which we got from a popular jewelry company that made it specifically for this film. Nowadays men don’t wear jewelry, but back then they did and all their jewelry had to be made from scratch. They were sent under the close watch of security personnel who had to make sure the jewelry would be during and after the shoot. Likewise, we had a lot of animals in the set and had to figure out where he was going to let them rest and also had to provide access to food and medical check-ups. We were working during Covid so testing also had to be done rigorously. We had specific teams for each of these tasks,” adds Siva.
When big-budget films flop, big-name production houses work closely with the affected parties to ensure that the losses are recouped in future films. I ask how it is now, with the entry of corporate organizations into film production. “Production houses like Pakshiraja Studios, Modern Theatres, AVM, Prasad, Gemini and Vijaya Vauhini Studios made sure their paperwork was perfect. Similarly, for Madras Talkies, several technicians have been working with Mani sir for decades… AR Rahman sir has been with him for 30 years, while Srikar Prasad has been with him for 25 years,” says Siva. “Corporate companies come into production as per To me it is a healthy change because there is discipline, a clear and fair accounting process and transparency. When it comes to financing and distribution, having a corporate company is helpful. When you have longevity, the team you have will continue to work with you, and that relationship goes beyond the professional and becomes a personal and creative relationship.”
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