Umapathy Ramaiah: I will give my 100% and more for my dad

Umapathy Ramaiah is making his directorial debut with the film Rajakili, which features his father Thambi Ramaiah as the protagonist.
Admitting that he is an accidental director, Umapathy says, “Appa wrote the film’s story. He was supposed to direct it, and I was to assist him. When the shoot had started, we realised that it would be hard for him to monitor everything as he is almost in every frame of the film. If he strains a lot, then it will show in his acting as well.”
Umapathy continues, “All this led to me taking over the project. My appa is my hero and when I got the chance to make a film with him as the hero, I didn’t want to let it go.”
“Initially, I told appa that this is his script and not mine. The taste of someone from his generation is different from someone from mine. His script had a lot of dialogue while I prefer to convey what can be said in seven sequences through seven shots. So, the fusion of both generations will be experimental and different,” he adds.
Stating that Rajakili will be a family-oriented emotional drama, he shares, “In Tamil, cinema, very few movies, like Power Paandi have told the story from an elderly man’s perspective. Our film is about the life of a middle-aged industrialist, and it covers a 15-year timeline.”
Also part of Rajakili is Samuthirakani, whom Umapathy refers to as the anchor of this film. “He plays a highly regarded and positive character,” shares the first-time director.
When we ask him about the criticisms that might come his way for taking over the film from his father, he shares, “There will be criticism, yes. At the end of the day, had it not been me, someone else would have directed the film. I will give my 100 per cent and more when doing anything for my dad. I do not know if someone else would do that.”
Umapathy signs off by telling us that he won’t be acting in this film and is solely donning the director’s hat for the flick.