"Due to business impact, I had to reinvent myself." - Udhayanidhi Stalin

Udhayanidhi Stalin is back on screens this week with Manithan, directed by Ahmed and co-starring Hansika, Prakash Raj and Radha Ravi. The film is the official remake of Jolly LLB and is said to be an emotional court room drama. In a recent interview, Udhay said that he was consciously looking to avoid comedy and templated foreign songs, after three similar outings early on in his career,

"Due to business impact and the audience's changing tastes and expectations, I had to reinvent myself. They are expecting fresh content and it took some time for me to understand that. I was getting bored with the same comedy pattern. But in Manithan too, some comedy has been woven enjoyably into the film and it won't be all serious."

Another standout factor in Manithan is the presence of composer Santhosh Narayanan instead of Harris Jayaraj. On this, Udhay said,

"I needed a change-over from Harris after 4 good outings. 'Aval' was the first song which Santhosh gave and it just got better and better from there. His RR would elevate the film. He is my first critic and during the RR work, he called me to appreciate saying that I had acted for the first time (laughs)."

Manithan would be releasing in about 300 screens in TN this Friday.