96 (2018)

Interesting facts

'96 is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by C. Prem Kumar in his directorial debut. Produced by S. Nanthagopal of Madras Enterprises, the film was distributed by Lalit Kumar under his banner, Seven Screen Studio. Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan are in the prominent roles as Ram and Jaanu, while newcomers Gouri G. Kishan and Aadithya Bhaskar played the younger versions. The film also stars an ensemble cast including Bagavathi Perumal, Devadarshini, Varsha Bollamma, Aadukalam Murugadoss, and others. The film revolves around the reunion of former students from the batch of 1996, twenty-two years after their graduation.

Production

In October 2016, it was first reported that Trisha had agreed to be part of a project opposite Vijay Sethupathi that was to be directed by cinematographer C. Prem Kumar, who worked with the latter in Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012). Two months later, Trisha announced the project via her Twitter and revealed the title as 96.

From May 2017, Prem Kumar first talked about the film, telling that Vijay Sethupathi would play the role of a travel photographer, and that the film revolved around "characters who belong to the same batch: 1996", revealing the meaning of the film's title. Prem Kumar had written the entire script in 20 days in December 2015 during the Chennai floods when he was stuck in his apartment.

The technical crew of the film includes N. Shanmuga Sundaram and Mahendran Jayaraju as the cinematographers, Govind Vasantha as the music director, R. Govindaraj as the editor, Vinoth Raj Kumar handling the production design and Uma Devi and Karthik Netha as the lyricists. Apart from the lead actors, Bagavathi Perumal, Devadarshini, Rajkumar, Aadukalam Murugadoss and Varsha Bollamma were roped in for supporting roles.

The crew was then looking for suitable actors to play the younger versions of Sethupathi and Trisha's characters, which delayed the commencement of principal photography. The team eventually selected Aditya Bhaskar, son of actor M. S. Bhaskar, and Gouri G. Kishan for the roles, both making their acting debuts with the film. Devadharshini's daughter, Niyathi Kadambi, played the younger version of her role.

Vijay Sethupathi's character Ram, was a travel photographer. Discussing about his portrayal, Prem Kumar stated that his life was considered to be "inconsistent and nomadic and his thoughts were unsettling like his job". The character was also unable to forget his first love in childhood, even though she was married, which had Kumar referred of a "few men who have remained the same as they were in their teens".

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