The last five years haven’t exactly been kind to your career.
Well, I take everything as a lesson. I learned about some of the bad choices I made. I realised that there’s no point spending years on a film, as I did. A good film can be made in much lesser time. For instance, my Romeo Juliet was shot in under 80 days. Oh, and did you know James Cameron made True Lies in 40 days? So, a good film needn’t take years at all. I was also keeping my look secret and refused to address press conferences. I ended up missing out on projects by directors such as K. V. Anand and Gautham Menon.
Now, I realise that with how popular social media is, maintaining secrecy is a futile exercise. It’s an old idea. That’s why I’m now active on Twitter, and interacting with my fans every day.
When you were just playing the romantic hero, things were going well, weren’t they? You did films likeSantosh SubramaniamandDhaam Dhoom. But then, you decided to shed that image and turn into an action hero.
It’s a natural evolution, I think. People would have eventually become tired of watching me play the lover boy in all my films, and then I’d have been forced to undergo an image change. It seemed to make more sense that I be proactive about it. Also, the idea of an angry, young man always works in cinema. Everybody is angry inside, and such a character provides them with release.
You have two films lined for release:Sakalakala Vallavan, andThani Oruvan, with your brother.
In Sakalakala Vallavan , I play Shakthi, the son of a village head (Prabhu). This is the first time I’ve tried a full-length comedy. Shakthi competes with the son of a rival family, played by Soori. There’s also Vivek in the film. So, no panjam for humour.
Thani Oruvan will show the world a side to my brother that nobody knows, except our family. It’s a result of his frustration with society. We have all encouraged him to do an original film, as we know his ability. I waited almost a year for him to finish this script. He has done five films for me, and if I didn’t do even this, I couldn’t think of myself as a good person.
Will yourBhoolohamget released at all?
I have reason to believe it will. It even got a ‘U’ certificate from the censor board. In any case, my work there is done, and the situation out of my control. So, I have moved on.
I’ve just completed 22 days of shooting in Ooty for my next film with Shakthi Rajan. It’s a horror film, a new genre for me. I’m cast opposite Lakshmi Menon. So, I’ve got quite a few good projects awaiting their release. Who knows, this could be the start of something. The next five years could well be kinder.
