Sasikumar has reserved his best for 'Vetrivel': Director

Debutant director Vasanthamani says audiences will get to see actor-filmmaker M. Sasikumar's best performance in the forthcoming Tamil rural drama "Vetrivel", which is slated to hit the screens worldwide on Friday.

"As an actor, he has given an unbelievable performance. I think he had reserved the best for this project," Vasanthamani told IANS.

"Vetrivel", according to the director, is a rural drama that will instantly strike a chord with the masses.

"The story unfolds between two families. Sasikumar plays the elder son of a family and he does something for his younger brother, earning serious repercussion in the process. It's a story with heartwarming familial moments," he said.

Vasanthamani says he had originally written the script for Sasikumar.

"When I narrated the story to the producer, he suggested that I go meet Sasikumar. However, he was busy with 'Bramman' shoot, and I had to wait for nearly a year. It was before he started working on 'Tharai Thappattai', things finally fell in place," he said, adding it was his producer who narrated the story to Sasikumar.

"When Sasikumar met the producer for the second time, he inquired whether he heard any story from me. And when he learnt I couldn't even meet him, he decided to narrate the story and convinced him to bring me on board," he added.

On working with Sasikumar, who is also a popular director, Vasanthamani said he knows how to juggle his hats.

"He knows when to be an actor and when to behave like a director. During the shoot, he would don the hat of an actor and give me all the freedom to extract the best out of him. When he sees a shot on the monitor, he would suggest changes from a director's standpoint," he said.

Explaining with an example, the director said: "We would shoot a scene and come to the monitor. While I look at the artistes and lock the shot, Sasi sir would look at things in the background and suggest if any changes have to be made. When I see it from his perspective, I understand his opinion".

Also starring Mia George, Prabhu and Thambi Ramaiah, the film is produced by Trident Arts.