Filmmaker Mani Ratnam recently shared that he initially considered casting Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol for his 2000 hit Alai Payuthey but eventually abandoned the idea because he was unable to finalise the film’s climax.
The Tamil-language romantic musical, which starred R. Madhavan and Shalini, was later remade in Hindi as Saathiya, featuring Rani Mukerji and Vivek Oberoi. The film tells the story of two young people who elope and marry, only to face difficulties as cracks begin to appear in their relationship.
At the open forum of G5A Retrospective, filmmaker Mani Ratnam shared, “What I had planned to do with Shah Rukh was Alai Payuthey. I wanted to do it with Shah Rukh and Kajol, and I told him the story, and he agreed. But I hadn’t cracked the last element of the story. If you’ve seen Alai Payuthey, it’s built around one day, and we keep going back to that one day, and when the accident happens and the wife is missing, he is searching for her. So, that element I didn’t have at that point in time. So, we shifted to Dil Se.”
The filmmaker explained that he was able to resolve the missing element of Alai Payuthey while making his 1998 film Dil Se, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala. “Once I was finishing Dil Se, I was able to solve this problem with Alai Payuthey and was still interested in doing it,” he added.
Saathiya, the Hindi remake of Alai Payuthey, was directed by Shaad Ali. The director shared his belief that every film undergoes multiple changes throughout the filmmaking process, from its inception to casting and editing. “You are never sure you got it correct… you’re still trying. Even when you’ve written fully, when you shoot, you’re looking for something more because it’s still getting constructed,” he explained.
Mani Ratnam further said that films are “pieces of people and bits of life,” and he strives to make them feel like a “reflection of entire life.” “You need to elevate it… Actors have to come and make it alive. If they don’t do so, you can shout at them,” he joked, adding that the fine-tuning process continues even in the editing room.
A three-day retrospective on Mani Ratnam’s work was held from January 24 to 26 by the not-for-profit organization G5A at the G5A warehouse in South Mumbai. The retrospective featured screenings of his iconic films such as Nayakan, Bombay, Raavan, Kannathil Muthamittal, Kaatru Veliyidai, Alai Payuthey and Iruvar.
