“It’s all much easier now,” says Vijay Antony, describing how things have changed after the success of his film Pichaikaaran . “I needn’t sell myself any more, there are far fewer negotiations with distributors, and I’ve got all my attention on the creative process alone.”
It’s two days before the release of Yaman and he’s speaking to us as he travels from one studio to another. Yaman is also his first film that’s not a home production, but he insists that it’s not the beginning of stardom. “I still don’t call myself an actor, leave alone a star. I’m a technician whose efforts go into hiding my limitations as an actor.”
And that’s why the first few requests he makes to a director who approaches him are, “I can’t shout, I can’t cry convincingly, and please don’t make me dance.” Not that directors always listen. Yaman has him dancing for the first time. “I wouldn’t call it dancing. I’ve just tried.”
The secret, he feels, is in choosing characters that are just like him. Antony is always on the lookout for directors who find new ways to side-step his shortcomings, especially during post-production. “Even if it’s a lengthy dialogue, I just go about speaking like I do normally… like how I’m talking to you now. This is why we avoid extreme close-ups. If there’s a scene in which I need to cry or emote heavily, I just take care of it during the dubbing sessions.”
Yet, when asked if he has improved as an actor, Antony says, “Not really. I didn’t know music either, but I became a composer. Acting too is like that. It’s like cooking for your siblings when your mother is away. You have a responsibility and you try to do a good job.”
It is the weight of this responsibility that led him to stay away from composing for films he’s not acting in. It all comes from his resolution to keep things ‘stress-free’, “All my decisions have been simple. So when a script sounds interesting, I just go ahead and do it. I never over-think.”
Given his present status as a rising star, shouldn’t decision-making have become more difficult? “Even when I decided to become an actor, there was no path to follow, no advice to take. So why I should I start now? I don’t believe in being careful.”
50 shades of grey
Talking about his role in Yaman , Antony says, “All characters in the film are grey. Just like people in real life. The evil that they do is a result of circumstance. So I wouldn’t call it a negative role. If a hero kills the villain, it’s not really him being evil right?”
