There is a vast number of Telugu audience who keep track of all the Tamil releases on Fridays and even buy DVDs of their favourite actors. Siva Karthikeyan might not have had even a single release in Hyderabad but there are people who have watched Rajini Murugan and Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangham countless times. His Maan Karate ( Tuntari ) has even been remade; had it been dubbed it would have surely worked. In a chat with MetroPlus , the actor reveals he is inclined to get closer to the Telugu audience and promises to dub Remo , his next release in which he plays a female nurse.
Reacting to his five hits in a row he says, “The moment I receive appreciation, I shift my focus to the next film. Success is not permanent and I reached this stage after a long process. For someone who is from Trichy and has grown up on a staple of movies, it is a great blessing to share space with the stars. I can’t ask for more. The few films that I thought will have a decent run also were big hits.”
Ask him if there have been ego clashes with Dhanush and if he wants to continue working in the same genre, the actor clarifies: “Dhanush is my senior and there can never be any ego clash, he is one of the finest actors in our country. I am trying to do big budget films and he wants to produce small budgets films. There is nothing wrong in his calculations. I am always there for Wunderbar films if he calls me. As far as the genre is concerned, currently I can’t do films without humour but sometime in the future I might. People never call me a comedy hero or have branded me as one. I’m trying new stuff and I will do it slowly, but definitely not dark humour. I know as an actor I should be versatile but at the same time I should not disappoint my audience. More than a number of films I believe in number of hits. I want to learn and do better.”
Is there a similarity between Remo and Avai Shanmughi ? “When you use prosthetic, you can change yourself into an older person but here I had to look like a young nurse. In Aparichitudu , Vikram’s name is Remo and he changes himself to ‘Remo’ and wins the girl back; my character too changes, so does the look and becomes Remo. PC Sreeram’s collaboration was a blessing. Working with him was like coming out of a university... he had trained 43 cameramen who are doing well for themselves. He’d be on the set at 5.30 am and the way he treats the film as his first is amazing. This film gained attention and respect because of him. We are lucky to have worked under him in such early stages of our career.”
Siva Karthikeyan was earlier doing television and says film is a different medium and he is still learning to emote before the camera without giving a retake. He wants to focus on giving hits as movie business has become very risky; the pressure and responsibility is more. At the same he wants to be there for his family. He signs off, “I don’t want to become a machine; I go home early these days to be with my daughter. So may be I’ll do just two films a year.”
