Gunaa (1991)

Interesting facts

Gunaa is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language psychological romantic drama film directed by Santhana Bharathi and co-written by Sab John. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Rekha and newcomer Roshini. The story revolves Gunaa (Haasan) who kidnaps an heiress (Rohini) to make her fall in love with him. He believes she is an avatar of goddess Abhirami and it is his destiny to marry her.

Production

The director Sibi Malayil, cinematographer Venu and actor Kamal Haasan had planned to make a film set in Sri Lanka during a time of insurgency, written by Sab John. The trio met Cho Ramaswamy to learn more about the various issues in the country, but he criticised their desire to tell such a story, resulting in the project being dropped. John later told Haasan about a mentally-ill person nicknamed "Pottan" (Fool) who he knew in his childhood.

In portraying the title character, Haasan went on a diet and lost a substantial amount of weight, besides applying makeup to darken his complexion. For the scenes near the climax, his makeup included many cuts and burns on the face, along with the appearance of a protruding eye.

The pre-credit scene where Gunaa walks around in circles in an asylum with the camera following him was a shot in a single take after a day of rehearsing. The dilapidated church where Gunaa initially keeps Rohini captive was a set designed by art director Magie at a forest named Mathikettan Solai. The church resembled an old building built 70 years ago.

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