One more wish has been ticked off Vaibhav’s bucket list — a hit as a solo hero. That’s what Kappal , directed by Karthik G. Krish, has given him. The film, a laugh riot about a bunch of friends who try to scuttle their buddy’s efforts to fall in love, is still playing in some theatres, despite the release of biggies. The film generated a lot of buzz as director Shankar decided to release it under his S Pictures banner.
Vaibhav has, for long, been known as the “ensemble film hero”; the one who fits effortlessly into any role, especially that of a friend. Even now, he’s part of Vishal’s Pongal release Aambala . From his first outing in Tamil, Venkat Prabhu’s Saroja , he’s starred in a slew of such films — Goa , Easan , Mankatha , Nee Enge En Anbe … He played the lead in Damaal Dumeel , but found box-office acceptance only with Kappal .
“I’ll admit there’s a huge sense of relief,” smiles Vaibhav, quickly adding that he is equally proud of his ‘ensemble’ films. “They were a lot of fun. It was like hanging out with good friends,” he says. However, a lot of things worked well for Kappal . “The producer and director are great friends. And, Karthik knows how to extract work from you. He pushed me to give my best,” recalls the actor.
“ Karthik knows how to extract work from you. He pushed me to give my best. ”
The film also got him a chance to meet director Shankar in person. He met Vaibhav after the screening of Kappal and told him “nalla pannenga”. “And, to think I’d tried to meet him many times earlier and never succeeded.”
Vaibhav is now on a two-month break to recuperate from a knee surgery. “I’m taking things as they come, and yes, I’m trying to lose some of the weight I put on after the surgery,” he says. Then, from March, he will start work on a solo-hero film produced by A.R. Murugadoss and directed by Stanley.
It was Vaibhav’s father’s (Telugu director Kodandarami Reddy) dream to see him as a successful hero, and the actor is happy he managed to achieve that. “But, I’ll always remember what he told me: Even if you become someone very big, never change as a person. So, I think I’ll always remain this happy person, who has a great time on the sets.”
