Natchathiram Nagargiradhu: Love is political, says Pa Ranjith; here's the star cast of his multi-starrer

The makers of Pa Ranjith’s Natchathiram Nagargiradhu dropped a trailer that took us into a glimpse of the cast. In a two-minute video, we see these characters belong to a theatre troupe, expressing their views on love. Notably, the film marks Ranjith's return to the romance genre after his debut film Attakathi which came out in 2012.

“Love isn’t all fun. Love is pain,” says Kalidas Jayaram, who plays Iniyan. Dushara Vijayan, who plays Renee, says, “Love is not straightforward.”

Watch the video here:

Billed as a romance drama, Natchathiram Nagargiradhu features Kalidas Jayaram and Dushara Vijayan in the lead, while Kalaiarasan, Hari Krishnan, Subatra Robert, and Shabeer Kallarakkal (of Sarpatta Parambarai fame) will be seen in crucial roles.

The film, bankrolled by Neelam Productions and Yaazhi Films banners, has music by Tenma, cinematography by A Kishor Kumar and editing by Selva RK.

Natchathiram Nagargiradhu, which wrapped shoots in December last year.

Ranjith, whose latest release was the boxing drama Sarpatta Parambarai (that streams on Amazon Prime Video), has a long list of films in the pipeline, including Chiyaan 61, Vettuvam, besides an untitled film in Hindi, on the life of Birsa Munda (who led a movement against forced conversions to Christianity during the British Raj), in different stages of production.

Also, it's known that the Kaala filmmaker will team up with Kamal Haasan, for a film, set in Madurai.

In an interview with an online publication, Ranjith said that he's open to supporting issue-based films. He adds such projects need not be serious all the time. “They could be all-out entertainers, or comedies, and need to be socially responsible and break stereotypes, which is what I look out for as a producer.”

On the responsibility of a filmmaker when tackling issues of caste in movies, Ranjith tells The Hindu, that he admires Iranian filmmakers for how they criticise the dominant conservative ideology of their society even with strict state censorship. In India, he points out that we don’t grapple with such censorship. “Filmmakers here should protect this freedom and make responsible films that do not rob us of our right to make such films.”

In Tamil cinema thus far, Ranjith thought Vazhakku En was a powerful film, which spoke the truth about power. “When we place the systemic issues before the people, I believe that they will start thinking about how to solve it!”