Saani Kaayidham: Playing an intense character like Ponni didn't affect me personally, says Keerthy Suresh

Arun Matheswaran's directorial venture, Saani Kaayidham, dropped on May 6, to overwhelming reviews, on Amazon Prime Video. Keerthy Suresh, a former constable commits 24 murders. The last time the actor witnessed such a response was in 2018, for Mahanati, when she effortlessly played veteran Telugu actor Savitri. “I was rather surprised to be approached for such a film. My image is of a girl-next-door, after all. Arun explained that it would be different for the audience to see me do such a role. I saw reason in his belief. And yet, I did have a bit of fear. It’s a fact that family audiences, including children, have enjoyed my work so far. I knew that they would have to accept this new attempt," Keerthy tells Cinema Express.

Did Keerthy ever end up conflating the reel with the real? “No, I didn’t let it affect me personally!” She explains that her experience of doing the National Award-winning Mahanati helped her get better at distancing herself from the characters she plays. “During Mahanati, there was a phase where I got depressed. I decided I would not go through that again. The sets that I worked on during Saani Kaayidham were pleasant, despite the dark theme. Be it the direction team, or the production team, it was all a breeze.”

Recalling her routine while shooting Saani Kaayidham, Keerthy tells Cinema Express, “I would work out in the morning, go to the sets, and then, play Ponni. I would remain Ponni for the duration of the shoot. Once done, I would return home as Keerthy, watch a few episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and remove any traces of Ponni from my mind!”

In the disturbing sexual assault scene, Keerthy explains that the filming was the result of many days of thought and work. The idea to keep the focus squarely on the men committing the crime and not the victim was director Arun’s choice from the very beginning. “Arun chose a woman cinematographer (Yamini Yagnamurthy) for the film… for this scene, in particular. He wanted to make sure that I would be comfortable. And I was,” she tells Cinema Express.

Keerthy thought a lot about the making of this scene. “Ponni, the constable, was being sexually assaulted, and it was enough to make sure that her uniform could be seen. There is no necessity to go beyond this. This also sets Saani Kaayidhan apart from other films that have shown the victim more explicitly."

Saani Kaayidham has editing by Nagooran Ramachandran, music by Sam CS, and art direction by Ramu Thangaraj.

The film is produced by Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.