It all started in 2009, when a film called 'Passenger' made a quiet release, and went on to become one of the most talked about films of the year, besides making waves at the box office. It brought into focus a young director called Ranjith Sankar, who bagged the Lohitadas Puraskaram for his debut film. Two years later, Ranjith is ready with his second film 'Arjunan Sakshi' that is slated for a Jan.28 release. 'Arjunan Sakshi' stars young superstar Prithviraj with Ann Augustine, Biju Menon, Jagathy Sreekumar, Vijayaraghavan, Nedumudi Venu and several other actors.

Veeyen of nowrunning.com had a tete-e-tete with Ranjith Sankar, when the director animatedly talked about his new film, his lead hero and cinema in general. Here are the excerpts:

'Passenger' was a film that had a very pertinent social statement to make. And from the promos, it seems that your new film 'Arjunan Sakshi' has some social critique on offer as well. I was wondering how dissimilar 'Arjunan Sakshi' is going to be then, from 'Passenger'. Could you elaborate on the differences or perhaps the similarities between your two films?

It's a very interesting and a difficult question. You know, after 'Passenger' I was advised by many to do a comedy film or a film in some other genre that would help me prove myself as a versatile director. But I'm a person who actually did not even think about doing a film for quite a while after 'Passenger'. So when the thought of doing a film finally arrived, the most tempting factor for me was that I had something really relevant to say; something that I actually believe in.

'Arjunan Sakshi' has a subject that I had thought about, long before 'Passenger'. I was doing my final year at the Engineering college about twelve years back, when I chanced upon this idea from a newspaper report, that later on became my final year paper. The major motive behind 'Arjunan Sakshi' is that, a decade later, this issue still remains as much valid and has assumed even a greater significance. Hence I really don't know how far this film is going to be different from my first film since there hasn't been any deliberate effort on my part to create a film distinct from 'Passenger'. Rather, I have tried to create a film that I would truly enjoy watching as a viewer.

Image: Ranjith Shankar