The New Indian Express ·
Sardar 2 editor Vijay Velukutty: My association with Ajith Kumar sir made me who I am
Many people's fascination for films primarily stems from the wish to either act or direct. Not everyone dreams of becoming an editor. One of the busiest editors in Tamil cinema, Vijay Velukutty, precisely for this reason, begins with advice for film aspirants not to treat the edit table as a door to other glitzy film gigs. "I tell this to both film aspirants and whoever comes to work with me. No half-heartedness, and no treating editing as a launchpad for other film-related passions. Editing requires unwavering dedication."
Having worked on marquee projects like Thunivu, Mark Antony, and Good Bad Ugly, Vijay now gears up for the release of Sardar 2, which hits the screens today. He says that he was bitten by the edit bug during his Viscom film project days. "I used to be a part of almost all the filmmaking projects in the final year. It was with Rajinikanth-Mahendran's Johnny I began recognising how different departments function to make a film," he says, adding that he discovered editing was a powerful storytelling tool in college. "The edit table felt magical after being given shoestring budgets for college film projects. With not enough money to spend on the story or characters, we even built stories from the shots we had while editing. That's how my love for this job began."
His description of his collaboration with PS Mithran is particularly interesting, as Vijay distinguishes Sardar 2 from Sardar as an information-meets-personal-story kind of film. "If you look at the first film, it is heavy on information and that at times even overtook the interpersonal drama. As an editor and audience member, I like character-driven stories more, and Sardar 2 offered me such an opportunity," he remarks, and adds that he has followed an editing pattern that is in sync with this style of storytelling. "The distinct feature in Sardar 2 is that where you think there will be a cut in an action thriller, it will be extended by two to three seconds for you to travel with the characters and their emotional journeys."