Haiku songs out as filmmakers line up behind Aegan

Producer Dr D Arulanandhu put a number on it. “Aegan has given 18 years of hard work just to be seen in cinema,” he said, as the songs of Haiku were released ahead of the romantic comedy’s worldwide theatrical release on October 23. He had given his lead some advice too: “I’ve told Aegan that you can only last in cinema if you act well.” Haiku is the third film from his Vision Cinema House, and he liked what he saw. “Yuvaraj has made exactly what he told me. I love the film.”

The Haiku audio launch drew a warm room of filmmakers, almost all of whom ended up talking about Aegan. Haiku stars him as Mano, the only boy in a women’s college, opposite Femina George and Sridevi. The Haiku trailer set up that premise for laughs, with a romance and something heavier underneath.

Tamil Nadu’s Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, and Information and Publicity, Rajmohan, called Aegan his younger brother. “I’m happy that my brother Aegan’s film is releasing on a screen where so many of Thalapathy’s films have run,” he said. “Aegan is a hard worker.” He said films that combine good ideas with entertainment had been missing lately, and that Haiku would fill that gap.

Producer Kalaipuli S Thanu praised the way the film captures the harmony and the friction between its two central characters. “Siddhu has given it wonderful music, and the songs are excellent too. The film will be a big success, and Aegan will reach a big place.”

Aegan used his time on stage to thank the people around him. Adirchi Arun, who plays a part in Haiku, has been his friend for years, and the two have acted in several series together. He thanked Siddhu Kumar for “wonderful songs”, and his father for standing by him. To his two heroines, he had one piece of advice: “Trust the director, and you will definitely go places.” Then the sign-off: “Watch the film on the 23rd and tell me.”

Femina George went back to the start of her own Tamil cinema story. “The first Tamil film I ever watched was Thalapathy’s Thulladha Manamum Thullum,” she said. Haiku was special to her, Aegan was a fine actor, and Siddhu’s music was brilliant. She and Sridevi, she revealed, shared the screen for just one day of the shoot. “This will be a film that makes my family proud.” Sridevi, who came to Haiku after the Telugu hit Court: State vs. A Nobody, kept it short. “Haiku is my debut in Tamil. Thank you to the producer and director for believing in me.”

Director Yuvaraj Chinnaswamy thanked his producer for not imposing any big conditions, and his three leads for trusting him. “Aegan, Femina and Sridevi did everything I asked of them.” He singled out the soundtrack too. “Siddhu’s album has come out really well.”

Siddhu Kumar said Haiku is his 15th film, and that Vision Cinema House would always be special to him. The feeling is mutual: Arulanandhu announced that Siddhu will score the banner’s next five films as well, and said the music had come out like poetry. “Aegan is a sweet person,” Siddhu said. “He will go to a big place in Tamil cinema.” Lyricist Mohanraja, who wrote for the album, congratulated the director on the title alone. “A haiku is a vision. It is love. I love many haiku poems, and we have to take the haiku to this generation.”

The visiting filmmakers were generous. Director Ponram loved the line of a lone boy in a women’s college, and called the trailer a riot of comedy and romance. “Aegan is a black diamond. He will definitely reach a good place.” He praised Femina and Sridevi as lovely performers and said Arulanandhu had made the film colourful and lavish. Producer Dhananjayan has already seen Haiku. “It’s a poetic film. The story is fresh, and it shows love from a completely different angle,” he said, adding that both heroines were cute. Director Sasi called it a very simple story that tells two kinds of love with nuance, and predicted it would be a milestone for the team.

Adirchi Arun had his own forecast. “When Malayalam films and Malayalam actors come to Tamil, they become hits,” he said. “In the same way, Femina will be a hit. Sridevi is talented. Aegan is like a younger brother to me, and he will become a big hero.” RJ Nidhi, making her film debut in Haiku, said Aegan and Arun had kept the set laughing throughout.

Yuvaraj Chinnaswamy wrote and directed Haiku, and Dr D Arulanandhu and Mathewo Arulanandhu produced it. The songs are out now, and the film opens in theatres worldwide on October 23.