Kamal Ghorui
Filmmaker Rathna Kumar is all set with his upcoming release, ’29,’ a romantic feature film, marking his comeback to direction after a break. The film has already begun creating buzz around itself, as it has an interesting concept, a new cast, and a lovely storyline. As the release approaches, Rathna Kumar has also opened up about his past projects, unused scripts, and his collaboration experiences with director Lokesh Kanagaraj.
Rathna Kumar reveals ‘Leo ‘ interval change
Speaking about ‘Leo’ in an interview with Galatta, Rathna Kumar shared an interesting behind-the-scenes detail about the interval block and how it changed during development. He said the original idea was different in tone and structure. “The original idea was a moment where someone said, ‘Leo is still alive,’ and around 50 people ran to look at his photo,” he revealed. Later, Lokesh Kanagaraj reshaped the scene into a more intense version. Rathna Kumar added, “Later, Lokesh changed the scene to breaking a photo and revealing the old Leo Das image,” which gave the moment a stronger impact. He further noted, “It had more impact and emotion. It suited the world of the film better,” explaining that the final version added more depth and cinematic power to the interval block.
Rathna Kumar’s experience with Lokesh
Rathna Kumar also spoke honestly about his earlier collaboration plans with Lokesh Kanagaraj. He revealed, “I was supposed to direct a script by Lokesh Kanagaraj. It had a horror element. Lawrence’s master liked it, but he felt, “If you say Lawrence, they expect horror again… do we need another horror film?” He added that later Lokesh shared another idea with him, but he could not fully connect with it. “I told Lokesh I did it because you wanted to make a film. But it didn’t feel like mine. There was no soul in it,” he said, explaining why he stepped back from the project.
Rathna Kumar returns with ’29.’
After their discussions, Lokesh Kanagaraj encouraged Rathna Kumar to pursue his vision, telling him to work on stories that he truly believes in. This led to the development of ’29,’ a rural romantic entertainer featuring Vidhu and Preethi Asrani. The film also includes music by Sean Roldan and a strong technical team. Rathna Kumar also revealed that a rural mass script he once pitched to Vijay gained attention after the actor personally called him, though it did not move forward due to other commitments. With ’29,’ he now returns with a fresh emotional story that reflects his own creative voice.
