Dhanush Om Why It Took 7 Months To Convince Mammootty To Sign The Film

Director Rajkumar Periasamy has confirmed that shooting on his much-anticipated Tamil film Om, Dhanush’s 55th film, is 60 to 65 percent complete, with the movie on track for its October 16 theatrical release. At the title launch event, the director opened up about the making of the film, which marks the first full-fledged collaboration between Dhanush and Malayalam superstar Mammootty.

“Around 60 to 65 percent of the shooting is completed,” Periasamy said, adding,”Rather than just a poster, we released a title announcement video to reveal Dhanush’s character. Other character introduction videos and the main trailer will come before the release. The title may sound devotional, but there are a lot of layers behind it, which you will understand as more glimpses are released.”

Speaking about working with Dhanush, Rajkumar Periasamy said the actor has managed to strike a balance that is often hard to pull off. “He is a multifaceted personality and actor. If we are talented, they will say we are overreacting. If we act subtly, they will say it is below par acting. But Dhanush has balanced both good cinema and commercial cinema aspects within his performance in this movie. We are currently concentrating on Chapter 1. There will be a proper beginning, midpoint and ending. It will be a complete movie. There is a lot of research work I have done for the movie, which will be shown as chapters,” he said.

On Mammootty, Periasamy confirmed that the actor plays a character named Karthikeyan, a detail that matches statements made at the film’s title teaser launch event. “Mammootty is Karthikeyan in the movie, and you can expect his glimpse soon. He had doubts about the movie, but after I clarified them, he agreed to play this character. It is based on real life incidents converged into a fictional story. The project is getting bigger and bigger as we speak. I have been following Mammootty sir for seven months to narrate the Om story. One day he came to Chennai and invited me for the narration. I narrated for two hours, and after clearing his doubts, he immediately agreed to do the film.”

Explaining why he chose the title Om, Rajkumar Periasamy said it was always meant to be more than a passing reference. “Everything begins with Om,” he said, adding, “The title has a lot of relatability with the story, and it is an apt title for it. Although a Kannada movie had the same title, many titles are repeating today, including my previous movie Amaran. But the title is not kept for sensation. I had written this title even before writing the story.”

The director also addressed concerns about the film’s content. He said, “The movie will not disgrace or target any community. As a commercial film, it will talk about today’s situation and make audiences think. I believe the market size has expanded without any regional barriers, and movies can now reach audiences everywhere. The story itself demanded a big budget. The announcement video lyrics were written by Dhanush, with Sai Abhyankkar composing the music, and we have already filmed one song. I wanted a performer, so I cast Sai Pallavi. Sreeleela joined the shoot for a few days, and her performer side will also be shown. Everyone liked their characters, and I created setups for them. I am not doing a pan Indian movie for decoration. For now, this is just a sequence. There are a lot more aspects in the movie.”

Om also stars Sai Pallavi and Sreeleela. The film, with music by Sai Abhyankkar, cinematography by Ezhil Arasu, and editing by Kalaivanan R, is produced by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films in association with R Take Studios.