Bharathiraja: ‘Alaigal Oivathillai, a love story between a Brahmin boy and a Christian girl, I can’t make it today’

The filmmaker also revealed that his initial plan was to make the film a romantic drama about a Muslim girl and a Hindu guy. “Back then, I think it was Minister Kalimuthu (ADMK party), who used to come for story discussions with us. He said, ‘Do whatever you want but don’t touch the Muslim angle.’ That’s why I later changed it. I even had a scene where Silk Smitha removes her burqa as a protest against her unfaithful husband. Minister said, ‘Venda Bharathi!'” Bharathiraja laughed.

Alaigal Oivathillai, which was the debut of Karthik and Radha, is still regarded as one of the classic love stories in Tamil that dealt with the volatile subject of inter-religious marriage. Both Karthi and Radha went on to become huge stars in the industry after the humongous success of the film.

On the work front, Bharathiraja has directed a segment in Amazon Prime Video’s anthology Modern Love Chennai. He directed the script of Thiagarajan Kumararaja. Talking about the segment, he said, “It is a story about two well-read intellectuals, who are pretty open-minded. When the guy tells he has fallen for another woman, the wife is pretty understanding of it. Though it is not my idea of love, I like the thought process of Thiagarajan. Also, I wondered if I am a bit backward. So, I took it up a challenge.”

Modern Love Chennai will be out on Amazon Prime Video on May 18.