We might be accustomed to the pandemic life now, but being locked up inside our homes earlier, brought out a flurry of emotions. And that’s exactly what director Ashwin Saravanan has capitalised on in his upcoming film, Connect, which stars Nayanthara in the lead role. The film will also have Anupam Kher and Sathyaraj in important roles. The first-look posters of the film were released yesterday, on Nayanthara’s birthday, and Ashwin is excited to collaborate with the actress again after their successful outing in the horror flick, Maya.
Ashwin says, “Frankly speaking, a lot of people wanted us to do Maya 2. But I was certain that I wouldn’t do it until I found the story for the sequel. I didn’t want to give in to the pressure as I didn’t want to do a story that would become underwhelming especially since Maya was received well.

Ashwin continues, “I knew it wouldn’t satiate my creativity, too. However, during the lockdown, I wrote this script and immediately thought of Nayanthara in the lead role. I knew only she could pull this off. So, we spoke about the script and she really liked it, too.

She also expressed interest in producing the film under Vignesh and her banner. Usually, we discuss scripts and look for producers. But here, she believed in this project from day one. This script has a universal appeal and so we decided to rope in actors like Anupam Kher and Sathyaraj sir for the project. They, too, were interested and came on board.”

So, where did he draw inspiration for the script? “It was during the first lockdown when we had nothing to do. We were all stuck at home pondering this new experience. Everybody was scared, stressed, and anxious about what was happening, and as a writer, I wanted to capture that feeling into a script. We gave in to isolation as we were finding it hard to connect with each other. I turned this feeling into a horror script.”

While Kollywood is seeing a horror wave, Ashwin says that this one will be an authentic outing. “Except for a few films like Aval, there have been no pure horror films. We usually turn to Hollywood films for that experience. I wanted to bring that here minus songs, dance, or comedy. So, Connect will be a horror film faithful to its genre.”

Singer Haniya Nafisa is also part of the film, and will be playing a prominent role. “Because of the rains, we are unable to start shooting. However, we will get the film rolling by December, in Chennai. We will be shooting here and in Mumbai.

Ashwin has written the story along with Kaavya Ramkumar. Manikantan Krishnamachary is handling the cinematography, Prithvi Chandrasekhar is the composer, and Richard Kevin is handling the editing.