Pushkar and Gayatri on Vadhandhi - The Fable of Velonie: 'The show is about how rumours can destroy reputations'

Amazon Prime Video’s Vadhandhi- The Fable of Velonie is a murder mystery that digs deeper and goes beyond the staples of a thriller. How exactly? In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the team of the show, produced by Pushkar & Gayatri, written, directed and created by Andrew Louis, and starring S.J. Suryah, Sanjana, Laila, Nasser, talk about the unique concept, how it is genuinely different from the other thrillers we have consumed, and much more.

Pushkar and Gayatri, the titles of your shows and films are always very unique. What are the discussions that happen while deciding on the name?

Pushkar: I think this one came with the title. It’s intrinsic to what the show is about. Vadhandhi means rumours and the show is built around that concept of how rumours spread and can, destroy reputations. The mystery is woven around that and that’s the way Andrew has written. With our other stuff, it takes a lot of hair pulling to figure out what’s the name. We are trying to crack the title of something we are writing now.

Gayatri: We just have a working title for a long time.

Andrew, there’s no censorship on OTT, so does that give you a lot more freedom to explore more themes?

I censor my scripts, what I want to say and don’t want to say. There were instances during Vadhandhi where I thought if I should bring out violence or not. Personally, I wouldn’t be able to sit down and watch it with my family, and those were the things that were there in my mind while I was writing. So such stuff automatically gets censored in my mind. Somethings people can accept and relate to, it should be done in such a way that people should feel it’s of course happening but it’s being presented in such a way that I’ve got the essence of it.

Suryah, Laila, both cinema and OTT are making powerful stories. How different is the medium for the two of you?

Suryah: Definitely more audience, and closer to the audience. Because it’s in their pockets, it’s in their living rooms, it’s in their computers, office, you can take an hour’s break and continue that. This has become a part and parcel of people’s lives, so it’s a great zone to get into.

Laila: It’s much more personal. The audience is way larger, not just in Tamil Nadu. You have to cater to everyone since the entire world is watching you. Andrew particularly told me this series is going to be watchable by everybody. The whole family can sit and watch, and nobody is going to feel uncomfortable, which is very nice and very comforting.

Suryah: Though there’s freedom, Andrew sir played it within the limit.

Pushkar and Gayatri, what is it about this show that can excite the viewers, since your previous works are highly successful?

Gayathri: Every day, we ask ourselves what do we watch today. So we just love watching stories, that’s the reason the whole industry is surviving for so long. And it will continue to survive till mankind dies. After a day’s work, you just want to watch something that is riveting. We had a lot of fun reading it, developing it. We would love to watch it even if it weren’t our show.

Andrew, where did you get this idea from, what was the inspiration?

I can’t exactly point out, but it was based on what we have been hearing around us over a period of time. Suddenly, one day I thought I have a story in hand. I’ve said this earlier also that tongue is the most dangerous weapon. With the help of that, you can make a person, break a person, murder someone, all is possible with the help of your tongue. That kind of sounded very unique for me to bring it into a story.

Suryah: Every body loves to gossip about others by talking through tongue. The gossiping will hurt the other person’s emotions, it’s not decoding the murder alone. This is the entertaining element compared to other thrillers.

Laila, what can we expect from your character. This seems to be a very mysterious woman.

It’s the story of a woman who has a tough life. She’s struggling through everything. It’s a very mature character.

Andrew: She has always played a very bubbly character.

Laila: I was quite honored when Andrew offered this to me.

Suryah, you’re a director yourself so how was it like being directed by Andrew?

I always wanted to be an actor and I’m happy being an actor. It’s pressurizing being directed by your own assistant.

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