Happy Birthday Sai Pallavi: Meet the director who first helmed Sai Pallavi. No, it’s not Alphonse Puthren

“That’s when my friend suggested Sai Pallavi. She was already popular among many who were following the dance show, and she was well-known in the college as well. I wasn’t sure but I asked her anyway if she wanted to be part of the film. She asked me about the story and the kind of film I was making. She said, ‘I was expecting that you would also come up with yet another romantic film. This is different.’ So, she was onboard,” Vignesh said.

Katchi Pizhai is a short film that brings out the perception bias of the audience. It revolves around the interaction between two characters. While we assume them to be a couple, it ends with a twist. Vignesh Sankaran said, “Looking back, we worked with an amateur editor and camera person. We were all just new-timers. It didn’t exactly come out the way we wanted.”

Talking about Sai Pallavi, he said, “I would just tell basic stuff about a scene, and she would come up with so many expressions that I would be spoilt for choice. However, she was keen on only dancing back then. She told me about a bad audition experience and said she is not keen on a career in acting.”

Vignesh also narrated how they ended up dubbing for the film in Pallavi’s house. “The live audio was bad and we needed her to dub for the film, but she had her exams the next week. Naturally, her father was against the idea, but her mom told us that if it can be done in an hour or two, we could do that in their house. So, my three friends and I did the dubbing at her place. I should say her mom is one of the key factors for the actor’s success because even back then she was supportive of Pallavi’s interests. It was not common back then.”

Vignesh Sankaran is currently the regional manager of a popular electric vehicle company. When asked how he feels to know that he was the first one to properly direct Sai Pallavi, he said, “It is a nice feeling to hear people, who don’t know I have worked with her, talk good things about her. I don’t know if she remembers the film or the whole episode. Maybe, she does.”