New high for Atharvaa

Irumbu Kuthirai's story revolves around Atharvaa and Johnny Tri Nugen. The film might be set in Pondicherry but the unit shot in Italy as well. Explaining why they chose to shoot in Italy, the film's hero Atharvaa says, "One of the reasons we chose to go to Italy was that we didn't have all the bikes in India. Also, we couldn't import some of the bikes here. That apart, the stretches here wouldn't have been conducive to ride those high powered bikes."

The sleek and stylish trailers of the film have already generated a lot of interest. Ask him how he came to be a part of this film and he replies, "Initially, when Yuvaraj told me about the script, he didn't have a producer. I told him this film would depend heavily on the screenplay and also on the manner in which the scenes were going to be fashioned. Simply put, this film was one that could be produced by only one who had a lot of vision. I was in talks with AGS Kalpathi S Aghoram sir then. I suggested Yuvaraj's name and Aghoram sir was really impressed with his story. He immediately gave a few suggestions and made it clear that he was taking this movie to a completely different level."

On the villain of the film, Atharvaa says, "I met Johnny Tri Nugen for the first time in Italy. He is a thorough professional who knows exactly what he wants. And boy, is he a damn good racer! In fact, that is one of the reasons why director Yuvaraj wanted him on board."

This race matters to Raai Laxmi

Raai Laxmi, who plays a biker in Irumbu Kuthirai, makes no bones of the fact that she was awed by the script. Says Laxmi, "This project consumed a lot of time and was not like other usual films. I had to prepare for my role, Christina, who is a biker. When director Yuvaraj narrated the script to me, I was impressed with the character as I have not played such a role so far in my career. I was awed by the kind of references he gave for my role. I play a passionate biker in the film for which I had to ride a bike in most of my scenes. I didn't learn to ride a bike as I had already ridden it during my college days. I just rehearsed for a few minutes before my shots."

Laxmi has got some interesting temporary tattoos all over her body for her role. She says, "Christina is very stylish and funky. So, I had to get a tattoo done. Though it was not a permanent tattoo, I had to get it designed every day for more than two hours by an expert. But I loved all my temporary tattoos."

She also lost close to 15 kilos for this film. Laxmi says, "The director had asked me shed five kilos for my character as I needed to look stylish. But I lost almost 15 kilos. During the first schedule of the film, many did not recognize me on the set. I had a drastic makeover and did everything possible as I was impressed with the script."

A thrilling ride for Priya

Priya Anand plays Samyuktha, the love interest of the character played by Atharvaa, in Irumbu Kuthirai. "I play a student who is studying medicine in Pondicherry. Her father is the Indian ambassador to France. She loves bikes and when she meets the hero, he wants to impress her, so he gets her a street bike. The trouble starts there," she laughs.

Working with bikes and speeding however, hasn't reduced Priya's fear of bikes. "As much as I love riding bikes or riding pillion on them, speed bikes scare me no end. There was one particular sequence that Atharvaa and I shot in Italy which was very nerve wrecking. I was sitting behind him, while he zipped across on a speed bike. It was cold and we were freezing. But it was a thrilling experience nonetheless."

So, will she ever do a film which involves speed bikes again? "I rather wouldn't," she laughs, adding, "However if there is a good script, I will definitely consider it."

TOI