The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Arya: All play and all work

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 28, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Arya: All play and all work

Sudhish Kamath

Actor's next film, "Auto", promises to be a racy thriller

BUDDIES: Actor Arya and director Vishnuvardhan. — Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

CHENNAI: A few moments before the premiere of Pattiyal, an unassuming Bharath yells across to his pair in the film, Pooja: "When you see my face, clap, ok?" Sitting one row ahead of Pooja, is the noisiest person in the hall, Padmapriya, the other leading lady of the film, who is giggling aloud, sharing jokes with crew and friends. That's when director Vishnuvardhan enters the hall and gives the rowdy sound "Oye," to check her decibel levels.

"It was a lot of fun shooting because almost everybody in the unit was below 30," as Arya reveals later sitting at Coffee? on a lazy afternoon, having carelessly worn his Levis T-shirt inside out. "Is that the design," someone asks him, as he realises he's worn it the wrong way. "It's okay, you are a film star, you can get away with it," we tell him. He laughs dismissively.

What did he like about the script? "I didn't know the script," comes the candid admission. "Vishnu refused to tell me the script. So, I had no clue about what happens in the second half till I saw the movie. Even Bharath would not tell me because Vishnu had asked him not to."

How did he get into character then? He (Vishnu) acts and shows.

"I just did what he told me. It was so much fun that if you saw it from far, it would look like we aren't shooting, we are just having fun," says Arya.

On screen chemistry

"Bharath is more playful than Vishnu. We played cricket together. So, that chemistry shows in the film. We spoke about how we will make the movie a hit and one day grow big enough to do a Coke ad together," laughs Arya.For Arya, it's not the story that's important but how it is told that makes him sign a film.

Was it true in the case of his Oru Kalloriyin Kathai and Kalaba Kaadhalan? "These were films I signed long ago. They trusted me when I was nobody. Even Pattiyal is not a mind-blowing script but the presentation makes it entertaining."

Next project

After Pattiyal, Arya is on to Auto. Directed by Pushkar and to be shot by Nirav Shah (who shot Dhoom and is currently shooting Dhoom 2), Auto promises to be a racy thriller about underground auto racing. "I was fascinated by the idea of autos speeding at 130-140 kilometres. It's illegal racing in traffic. So many people die in the race."

How does the simple boy who was once better known as Jamshad deal with his heartthrob status? "I'm just the same guy. As you can see, I'm wearing my shirt upside down," he says casually.

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