Once More: the film that refused to recast Arjun Das

When Vignesh Srikanth took his first script around town, more than one production house was willing to fund it, on one condition: find a different hero. The debut director’s answer was to keep the script and keep waiting. Once More, the musical romance he built around Arjun Das, releases in theatres worldwide on August 28, with the trailer now out.

Arjun Das only learned of those rejections later, and told the story himself. “When Vignesh first came to me he narrated just the one line, and I loved it. What he never mentioned was that when he pitched the finished screenplay, several companies told him to drop me and take another hero. He stood firm that only I could play Raghu. There were days I doubted whether I could pull the character off. He never did.”

The film comes from Million Dollar Studios, with Yuvaraj Ganesan producing, and puts Arjun Das, a specialist in likeable villains, into a full romantic lead opposite Aditi Shankar in a story of love, college memories and second chances. Model Sona Olickal makes her acting debut as Indira. The road here was not smooth; the film burned through more than one announced release date, and Yuvaraj was frank about it: “We fixed several dates and they fell through. This time August 28 is certain.”

Aditi Shankar plays Anjali, and her account of the shoot was unexpectedly personal. “This film came to me during the most difficult period of my life. Coming to set and living as Anjali every day worked on me like medicine,” she said, before offering a lighter memory: the first time she saw Arjun Das was as a fan at an Anirudh concert, where she queued up for a photograph with him. Yuvaraj added his own footnote on her, saying she took a fraction of her Maaveeran salary to make the film’s economics work.

For Vignesh, the film is openly a tribute. “I dedicate this film to Mani Ratnam. His films are why I wanted to become a director. Once More is my love letter to him,” he said, noting that the release day closes a long wait shared with Sona Olickal, since the film is a debut for them both.

The other debut in the credits belongs to Hesham Abdul Wahab, composing for Tamil cinema for the first time since Hridayam made him a pan-Indian name. That connection began with a cold call: Arjun Das rang him after watching Hridayam simply to say he loved the music, and the two promised to work together someday. “After Hridayam, this is the film I have most enjoyed working on. The songs will outlive the moment,” Hesham said, with the director doubling as the film’s lyricist. Aravind Viswanathan has shot the film, with Rajkamal on production design and Nava Rajkumar on costumes. Once More opens in theatres on August 28.