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New Delhi: Before writing a single scene of his upcoming movie Sigma, Jason Sanjay first shared the story with his family. He narrated it to his parents, actor-politician Vijay and Sangeetha, his sister, and his closest friends, and according to him, every one of them said a ‘yes’.

In a conversation with Ananda Vikatan before his first directorial, Sigma, hits theatres, Jason opened up about the support he received from his family and close ones. He said that moment of complete support was what gave him the energy to go ahead. “I spoke to everyone, my parents, my sister and my friends. They were all extremely positive, and that gave me a lot of energy. It was then that I truly realised how much faith they had in me. When Sigma went on floors, Vijay Sethupathi sir, Soori sir and several others wished well. I also received the blessings of many people,” he shared.

Jason Sanjay recalls his early love for cinema

For the son of a big star, entering the film industry brings a special kind of pressure. Every choice is closely watched and the first step is compared to others. Jason Sanjay traced his love for storytelling back to his childhood, when watching movies was not just a hobby but more a way of looking at the world. “Since I come from a film family, I’ve been going to shooting spots frequently from a very young age. I’ve also watched many premiere shows. Watching films has always been one of my main pastimes, ” Sanjay said.

But what made him different from a normal viewer, he explained, was the way he thought about what he watched. Jason said, “Whenever I watch a film, I closely observe the way the story is told, where the story begins, how it opens and how it is narrated. For me, it is almost like a game.” The feeling to tell stories again to friends who had not seen the movies, he believes, was where the director in him first showed up. “When I talk about a film with friends, I’ll excitedly say, ‘Dude, I watched this movie,’ and start telling them the story. I think that was my starting point,” he added.

Acting offer he turned down

Jason Sanjay also spoke about saying no to an acting offer from Alphonse Puthren, studying filmmaking in Canada, and how a story he told to a producer without expecting anything became his first movie. Jason shared that he was about 20 years old when director Alphonse Puthren conceived a coming-of-age story and contacted him after seeing one of his photos.

The Sigma director said that he said no to the movie. “I was still a student at the time and had not yet thought of cinema as a professional path. More importantly, I didn’t want to listen to the narration and later turn down a filmmaker I admired a lot,” he shared

Instead, he told the team to find someone better for the role. But he said that being thought of by a great director like Puthren made him feel very proud.

From a Canadian film school to Sigma

Jason Sanjay studied filmmaking in Canada, and it was during that time that the first version of his movie Sigma started. He wrote a 120-page full movie script but knew he could not make it yet. “I wondered whether I should take one scene from the script and film it, or condense the entire story into a short film. Eventually, I made it into a 20-minute short film,” he said.

The reason, he explained, was to test himself. “I made that film primarily to understand what I was capable of as a director, what worked for me and what didn’t,” he added. After coming back to India, he looked at many ideas before choosing one he liked a lot. He shared it with friends and people who understood cinema, used their advice, and made the script better.

The link to a producer came through his uncle Sanjeev, who introduced him to Tamil Kumaran of Lyca Productions.

Even at that stage, Jason said he did not expect the meeting to lead to a real film. “I wasn’t thinking that I was actually going to make a film. I simply thought, let me narrate a story to a producer. At least I’ll gain some experience from it,” he said, adding, “I narrated the story to Tamil Kumaran sir, and he really liked it. After that, I met Subaskaran sir, and he liked the story too. That story eventually became the Sigma you are now going to see.”

Why a heist film and not a love story

Jason Sanjay said that most people expected a 25-year-old first-time director to make a young love story. He went in the opposite direction. “A lot of people would have thought that at my age I would be doing a youthful romantic drama, but I was attracted to an adventurous heist movie with a bunch of characters,” he said.

The first-time director pointed out that Tamil cinema has not shown many heist movies compared to love stories, which made the idea more exciting for him. But he was quick to say that Sigma is not just an action film. “It’s a mix of romance, friendship, comedy, emotion and adventure,” he said.

Jason Sanjay on acting

Jason Sanjay also spoke about the speculation caused by his short appearance in the Sigma Style promotional music video. He said the appearance should not be seen as the start of an acting career. He was in the video because he wanted to help show the world of the movie and liked being part of the marketing.

“The questions of acting can be answered only after the film has been released,” he said. He said that every director has “an actor inside,” especially when helping actors on set, and that he has that feeling too. But for now, directing is where his focus is. The rest, he said, can wait.

He also shared that he already has two or three story ideas ready for future works, which he plans to work on after Sigma releases.

Curated by – Shahira Siddiqui