Every time I start a film, there will be huge pressure at home to cast Kreshna in it:Vishnuvardhan

While there is buzz in Kollywood that director Vishnu Vardhan will be teaming up with Ajith again, the director says that he hasn���t decided on his next film yet. In a chat with Chennai Times, Vishnu, who has completed the shoot of his current film, Yatchan, opens up about his equation with Ajith and Arya, casting his brother Kreshna for the first time and much more���Are you teaming up with Ajith next?This is just a rumour. Ajith sir and I have not even spoken about the project. But, if Thala wishes to team up with me again, I can prepare a script for him. That���s how Billa happened. I was assisting Santosh Sivan for Asoka and met Ajith sir for the first time during that period. He had then told me that we should work on a film, and after Arindhum Ariyamalum���s release, he called me and said that we should team up for a film. I told him that I didn���t have any script. He said, ���It���s OK, we will still work together���. So, we came up with the idea of remaking Billa. Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan had played that role earlier. So, it was a challenge for me to remake that film with Ajith. We developed a great equation while making that film. So, I���m ready to make a film with him any time as long as he wants to work with me.Is Arya playing a Thala fan in Yatchan?Yes, Arya is playing an ardent Thala fan. It���s not that I made him a Thala fan because I���m good friends with Ajith. The script actually demanded it. The character has nobody in his life and his onscreen hero, Ajith, is everything to him. Actually, writers SuBa approached me for permission to use my name in their short story, Yatchan. When they told me that story, I saw a film in it. So, I asked them if they could give me this story. That���s how Yatchan happened. This film will be visually stunning as we have shot with particular color themes. The portions involving Kreshna have a red tone while the scenes involving Arya will have a blue tone. These colours would visually tell the story.You have done seven films so far. But this is the first time you have cast your brother, Kreshna in your film. How did you manage to avoid the temptation of casting a family member in your films all these years?Every time I start a film, there will be huge pressure at home to cast Kreshna in it. My brother kept complaining that I didn���t cast him in my films. My mom used to call and tell me to give him a role. Wherever I went, people would ask me why I was not doing a film for him. I will then tell them that if I did a film with my brother just for the sake of it, it wouldn���t work out for the both of us. I���m happy that I didn���t succumb to the sentimental pressure to cast him in my film. As a director, I wanted to choose Kreshna for a role that suited him and that���s how I finally cast him. When I wrote the script of Yatchan, I actually thought of actor Kreshna ��� and not my brother Kreshna ��� for the role.We hear that many actors turned down Arindhum Ariyamalum and only Arya was ready to take up the role. Do you think that���s why you have a special corner for Arya?Not exactly. Arya trusts me a lot and he doesn���t come with the baggage that comes with other big actors. He will not even ask the story of the film and would just do it just because I am directing it. Arya and I grew up together in this industry. He was also looking for a break and I was also working hard to direct my second film. We were both newcomers at that time and we teamed up for Arindhum Ariyamalum. It is true that none of the actors at that time were ready to take up that film. My debut film did not do well and they were naturally apprehensive. I struggled for two years to get my second break. Many people rejected my script and said that it will not work and these overwhelming negative reactions made me convince myself that it will work. I learnt this attitude of converting all the negativity to positivity from Santosh Sivan sir, with whom I worked as an assistant.You have worked with Santosh Sivan for seven years. How were those days?He will not complain on the set. Even if there is nothing, he will find a way to shoot a scene. The more we tell him that something is not available or the lighting isn���t good, he would get more excited and take it as a challenge to shoot that day. Having worked with him for so many years, I somehow acquired that positive attitude from him. He always used to tell me, ���Get out and start your own film���. The bond that I shared with him continues even today. That is why, before I show my film to others, I would screen it first for Santosh sir. I have been doing this for all my films so far.You have acted in films during your childhood and your teenage years. Why didn���t you want to become an actor and chose direction instead?I get a lot of acting offers and I divert them to my brother. But my stint with acting is actually helping me now as a director. I act and explain things to my actors and it makes work easy for me. Though I have acted in films, my focus shifted to direction all of a sudden ��� I developed an interest in photography and though I began my career as an assistant cinematographer, I was fascinated by storytelling. Then, at one point, I chose direction. I hope I have made the correct decision.