Chennai, Jul 4 (IANS): Actor, comedian and orator Dindugal I. Leoni, who is making his comeback to Tamil cinema with the comedy film 'Panni Kutty', has showered praise on the film's director, Anucharan, calling him "a gem".

Speaking at a press conference, Leoni cited his experience of working with other directors and said, "I have seen directors losing their temper and scolding artistes. But Anucharan was cool, calm and composed without any pressure. Among all the directors I have seen, he is the one who has showed me that one can direct even by remaining calm. Direction Anucharan is a gem."

The actor, who plays a sage in the film, said that Anucharan is an expert at extracting work from the artistes.

"Whenever he wanted to reshoot something, Anucharan would never tell me that my performance was not okay or up to the mark. He would come to me and say encouraging words like 'this was fine. But we'll take one more and see which among the takes is really nice and take it'."

The film, which has Yogi Babu and Karunakaran playing the leads, also features a series of comedians including T.P. Gajendran, Singampuli, Ramar and Thangadurai.