Sudha Kongara Opens Up On The Challenges In The Making Of 'Sarfira' (Image-X/akshaykumar)
As the directorial venture of Sudha Kongara has branched out with Akshay Kumar, the remake of Tamil film Soorarai Pottru, the director discussed the challenges faced during the recreation of the South Indian blockbuster with Akshay interpreting the performance in his way.
Sudha is here to etch her real-life inspired story in Bollywood, titled Sarfira, starring none other than Akshay. As the movie is set to hit the theaters on July 12, in a recent interview, Sudha discussed her initial challenges during the film’s first week of shooting with the actor.
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She explained how she desired Akshay to channel Suriya’s performance rather than interpreting it in his own way, which made the actor uncomfortable. However, the Bollywood star later explained his approach to her, leading to a better understanding between them.
Speaking to Galatta Plus, she said. “Suriya is Suriya. I have known him for over 25 years, and it’s much easier to tell him what I want. It’s very friendly and casual. But with Akshay sir, it’s ‘sir’ first of all, and I was meeting this gentleman for the first time. Since I have no filters, it was almost similar. The first six days, he wasn’t happy. He was like, ‘What is this girl making me do all this rubbish?’ So then he and the producer spoke to me, and I said, ‘You do whatever you like to do, and I will tell you when it isn’t going right.’ I also had to let go because I had created the perfect Maara in my head, and I thought there could be nobody better than Suriya, and that’s how it had to be played. I soon realized that I was suffocating this actor who had his method, so I had to let go.”
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Explaining how she made peace with Akshay, Sudha said, “After six days, I showed him a cut of a particular scene, and the next day he came to me and said, ‘I have a way of performing. I have a way of doing things and a process, but this is the first time I am trying to understand what is going on in my head. I am trying to give you that.’ I said, ‘Very good. I love it.’ From there, we made peace, and we had a wonderful time shooting with each other. I enjoyed working with him. He keeps saying, ‘Isko toh filter hi nahi hai (She doesn’t have a filter).’”
