Mari Selvaraj outshines Dhanush in Karnan’s making video

The making video of Karnan was released on Tuesday but with one important difference. The behind-the-scenes footage of big films usually focuses on its lead star but the making video of Karnan puts the spotlight on director Mari Selvaraj.

The footage hints at Mari Selvaraj’s deep understanding of the characters that he’s dealing with. He enacts various characters and seamlessly switches between emotions as he shows his actors what he expects from them. He is sharp, quick on his feet, fluid and extremely confident about his material as he creates some powerful images.

Karnan is Mari Selvaraj’s second directorial outing. The director earlier revealed that Dhanush was impressed and gained confidence in his ability to deliver a good film after composer Santhosh Narayanan showed him a video song from Pariyerum Perumal, which was Selvaraj’s directorial debut. “When I met Dhanush, he asked whether I have a story for him. And in return, I asked whether he would like to watch Pariyerum Perumal before hearing my narration. He said that he would prefer to hear without any preconceived ideas about my work and directing style and watch my first film later. After I narrated Karnan, he approved it immediately and phoned the producer to inform him that he has okayed my film. And he gave me full freedom to do the film in the way I wanted,” Selvaraj had recalled earlier while promoting Karnan.

Karnan is set in the backdrop of a remote village in Tamil Nadu during the 1990s. It is reportedly inspired by real-life events. The film follows the rebellion of a young protagonist who refuses to be treated differently based on his caste identity.