Rajinikanth Did Kochadaiiyaan Not Because I'm His Daughter: Soundarya

Filmmaker Soundarya Ashwin, who is making her directorial debut with Rajinikanth starrer Kochadaiiyaan says her father agreed to be part of this mega project for the script and not because she was his daughter.

She said, "Once he was convinced about the script and that it requires a certain kind of technology then only he said yes. Because the kind of action sequences you will see in Kochadaiiyaan, it is not possible in live action or in visual effects to get this kind of impact."

"Only after he was convinced about this technology, he agreed to do the film and not because I was his daughter. That did not even make a difference. I was confident of handling the project and my father said ok go ahead," Soundarya said in an interview.

The director says that she felt blessed to work with Rajinikanth, 63, in her debut film. Soundarya added that when the project happened he agreed to do the film not like a doting father but took a professional approach. Soundarya claims, "This is a performance capture photo realistic film. It is a first attempt here (in India) but it is very famous abroad (Hollywood)."

Soundarya says, "Usually, films like this take approximately five to six years but we have been over ambitious and god has been kind and it took less than two years to make this film," Soundarya said.

She says it was not deliberate on her part to cast her father in her debut film. "We started Rana and my father unfortunately fell ill and then he got better. And when he came back (to do films) we did not want him to do undergo much physical strain because Rana is a period film and Kochadaiiyaan is a prequel to Rana," Soundarya said,

The director concludes, "Kochadaiiyaan is Rana's father. We wrote the story as Rana's story was already there. We wanted to make it less stressful for my father and decided to use this technology... it is easier compared to live action."