Director Adhik Ravichandran, whose latest release is Ajith Kumar’s action thriller ‘Good Bad Ugly’, has revealed that the Tamil superstar came forward to help him when no other hero was ready to listen to his story. Ajith even agreed to play the father in a proposed Tamil remake of the Hindi comedy ‘Badhaai Ho’, which Adhik called a lifetime opportunity.
Ajith Kumar introduced Adhik to Boney Kapoor
Adhik Ravichandran recalled that within four or five days of working with Ajith Kumar, the actor took the initiative to introduce him to producer Boney Kapoor and recommend him as a director.“He introduced me to Boney Kapoor and told him, ‘This is Adhik Ravichandran. He’s not an actor, sir, he’s a director. He’ll make it big. We have to do a film under Adhik’s direction,’” he recalled.Adhik first met Ajith on the sets of ‘Nerkonda Paarvai’, the Tamil remake of the Hindi film ‘Pink’. The film was directed by H. Vinoth and produced by Boney Kapoor, with Ajith in the lead. Adhik had played a supporting role in it. His remarks were made in an interaction as quoted by The Indian Express.The director said this support came when he was struggling professionally. After his second film failed, he found it hard to get actors to even hear his stories.“After completing my second film, no hero was even willing to hear a story narration from me. Following the disaster result of my second film, I was at my absolute lowest. But Ajith Kumar wanted to give me a film,” he said.
Ajith Kumar agreed to play the father in ‘Badhaai Ho’ remake
Boney Kapoor had acquired the South Indian remake rights to ‘Badhaai Ho’, the 2018 Hindi comedy starring Ayushmann Khurrana. The film follows a middle-aged couple’s unexpected pregnancy and how it affects their family.When a Tamil remake was discussed, Ajith agreed to play the father, a role originally played by Gajraj Rao.“Ajith Kumar said he would play the father’s character for me. I was stunned. It was a lifetime opportunity,” Adhik said.The director admitted he had not seen the original when Boney Kapoor asked him if the remake would work.“I hadn’t even watched the original film, but I immediately agreed to remake it. I was planning to convert the remake into an action script for Ajith Kumar without compromising the essence of the original,” he revealed.
‘Badhaai Ho’ remake was eventually made as ‘Veetla Vishesham ’
The proposed project did not move forward with Ajith Kumar and Adhik Ravichandran. The Tamil version was eventually made as ‘Veetla Vishesham’, directed by RJ Balaji and NJ Saravanan.