Director Balaji Mohan: "A Filmmaker Should Be Open To All Platforms"

Balaji Mohan is an Indian film director. The director left his engineering studies to pursue his passion for becoming a director. Filmmakers Balaji Mohan, Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, Gautham Menon will be creating content for Sony Liv, the video-on-demand platform that has launched its services in Tamil as well.

At yesterday’s press conference to announce the launch, the biggest surprise was an 88-year-old filmmaker walking up the stage and stating that he was “very excited”.

“I feel like 28,” said Singeetham, the director behind classic Tamil films like Aboorva Sagodharargal and Michael Madana Kama Rajan, “This feels like starting all over again. Over the years, I have had many ideas that could not be converted into feature films, and this platform will give me an opportunity to implement them.”

"We see Tamil and Telugu markets as a huge opportunity. There is so much much local talent in the entertainment space in Tamil, and we need to create a good ecosystem for them in the digital space as well,” said Uday Sodhi, Business head digital, Sony Pictures Networks India.

Director Balaji Mohan, the man behind the hit film Maari starring actor Dhanush and it released in July 2015, said that the possibilities in the digital space are “big.” He already has experience having directed the As I’m Suffering from Kadhal web series in 2017.

“I did that when I had some time off from the scripting of Maari 2.  A lot of people back then asked me why I was venturing into the digital space, but I believe that a filmmaker should be open to all platforms.”

Next up he will be teaming up with Actor Dhanush again for Maari 2, a sequel to Maari.

Among his works, Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi was most popular and went viral on YouTube, garnering an overwhelming response. Cinematographer Nirav Shah saw the short film and initiated the idea to make it into a full-length feature film.

Balaji Mohan took three months to develop the script, while Nirav Shah reached out to producers and actors, introducing him to producer Sashikanth of YNot Movies.