Elan interview: ‘Star’ director on how the Tamil film draws on parts of his life

In many ways, Star is as much the story of a man fighting his demons as it is about a woman conquering hers and being his support system. And Elan says he went back to his childhood and what he saw at home — from when they stayed in a hut, tiled house and then a proper house. “My dad is 66 now. He and amma fell in love and got married. We had very humble beginnings, and one constant was that when one person was down, the other would support him/her. They never gave up. I saw theirs as a progressive relationship with equal rights, and that’s my thought process too,” he says.

Elan recalls how when he was in Class 10, water would enter the house every monsoon, and his parents had convinced him that flushing out the water was a fun activity. “They never let me feel that we don’t have enough. Life was somewhat like Life is Beautiful. My parents raised me without me realising we were poor.”

On women in his films

There has been some criticism over Surabhi’s character in Star (played wonderfully by Aaditi Pohankar) being treated as someone who bears all the weight of the relationship, and the slap she is subjected to when Kalai (Kavin) gets furious about something. Elan does justify the scene later in our conversation, but how does he view women, considering both his films have had women with strong views — Surabhi and Meera (Preity Mukhundhan) in Star and Sindhuja (Raiza Wilson) of Pyaar Prema Kaadhal? “Women are always stronger. They are more resilient, and despite being a part of a deeply chauvinist society, they prove their worth, are strong and still manage to nurture. That’s phenomenal considering the difficulties they face compared to men,” says Elan. 

So, is Surabhi someone who’s a doormat who handles all of Kalai’s anger? “No. She’s someone who yearned for love as a child and still has it in her to give it liberally to all. I saw her like an angel, someone without flaws. The film, if you notice, takes on a dark tone at a point, and I needed someone like her to infuse some magic and love. And yes, I know someone like Surabhi, a very dear friend of mine. Because Surabhi is not a part of the first half, she’s a pleasant surprise; she represents hope and love.”

Following the internal journey

While many have seen the film as the story of a struggler, some have seen it the way Elan visualised it — the story of a man who fights his self-made demons, accepts himself and then courts success, aided by his friends and family. “Kalai is supported by so many — his father Pandian (named after Elan’s dad, Stills Pandian) played evocatively by Lal, mother Kamala (a lovely Geetha Kailasam), and Surabhi. There’s also his girlfriend Meera, who shows the mirror to Kalai, before she leaves him. And Kalai accepts that rejection, without badmouthing her. It’s only after his accident that he loses himself before finding himself again,” elaborates Elan.

Star is also one of those films where the first scene and the single-shot climax are so beautifully interlinked, like they were meant to be. “My dad, also a photographer, did that for me, you know. If it is Bharathi in the film, I played Kattabomman in the fancy dress competition and won it too. And he continues to be there for me, without complaint. My mother is my emotional anchor. She fainted watching the climax — her emotions got the better of her. My father called all his friends to speak about the movie. That recognition they give is my first identity.” 

Elan says growing up in lower middle-class society in Chennai’s Arumbakkam shaped him in ways that others don’t identify with. “I constantly seek goodness in people because I was surrounded by financial poverty and largesse of heart. People here keep their word. And they would care in a way that can make your eyes moist. When shooting a montage where Pandian rushes out with an umbrella for Surabhi, and Kamala pats dry her wet hair, Aditi’s make-up person wondered where on earth this happens. She’s right, but this is my reality,” Elan smiles. 

Kalai’s character’s darker edges are partly modelled on what happened with Elan after his first film became a smash hit in 2018. “I had to conquer my demons, too. My second film just was not working out. I was fighting so many inner conflicts. Once I got out of that space, Star happened. I’d written the script four years ago. My one-line for the film was: Show the world how you see yourself, and that is what they will see too. It is eventually about an internal journey, and we all follow our own paths.”

A magical moment

Elan draws the conversation back to Star. In the film, Kalai is shown as raising his hand a couple of times at different people. But it is not glorified. The camera does not zoom in, and the background score does not highlight that. “Rather, if you see, after the scene where he hits Surabhi, the camera focuses on how he quickly pulls back his hand in disgust. He does not like what he’s turning into, and does not want her to burn in his anger. He wants her to leave. That scene was to show self-disgust. Kalai’s lost himself.”

Certain montages in the film are full of unbridled fleeting joy. When Kalai is finally working on himself, he finally seems to be laughing about his scar to a bunch of kids. His heart is finally freed of the dark, and he finds his smile again. “What else is there after that? He’s unstoppable.” Elan says he chooses to work with up-and-coming actors because his films take time and he likes his actors to travel with it. “Both with Harish and Raiza in Pyaar Prema Kaadhal and in this film, I’ve gone with actors who can invest their time. It has helped, right?” he asks.

Then comes the issue of the dreaded ‘first half, second half’ conundrum, where different sections of the audience like different halves. “As a director, I take a call based on what most people might like. Which is why of those who watched, most liked at least one half very much. If I had made a film like The Fablemans, based on my taste alone, only one set would have liked the film. That said, I welcome all criticism. I’m now trying to analyse why a tiny percentage did not like the film at all. I am deeply self-critical so they can’t criticise me more than I am hard on myself.”

What makes Elan very happy though is when people notice the small things he’s done to lift a scene, the little moments he’s placed in the movie. “We all seek validation, right. And I work really hard on some scenes knowing 90 per cent of the people won’t focus on it. But when someone in that 10 per cent does and tells me, I am happy at the connect. Even if we experiment with something, and someone gets it, what a magical moment it is!”