Eleven films in 10 years is not exactly a healthy average for an actor playing the male lead in Tamil films. But Arulnithi is not your average actor. Whilst the average Tamil film hero takes on two or three projects simultaneously, Arulnithi paces his films.
“In this day and age, every film you do is important because even if one doesn’t work out, then the next project can become a question mark,” Arulnithi says, over phone.
“After Mouna Guru (2011) earned me recognition, I made the conscious choice to only do quality films. A hit or a flop is not in our hands but the attempt has to be something novel. Because I know that audiences do not come to theatres to watch my films for my face... they come expecting to watch a good story.”
His 12th film, Kalathil Santhippom , in which he co-stars with Jiiva, Manjima Mohan and Priya Bhavani Shankar, is scheduled for release on February 5.
Arulnithi and Priya Bhavani Shankar in a still from ‘Kalathil Santhippom’
This is a break from the usual for an actor who has set something of a pattern for doing thrillers more than most; at least five of his previous 11 films are in the thriller genre. In that regard, Kalathil Santhippom , which fits the mould of a ‘masala’ film, is an aberration.
“It is a film you can watch with the family. It is the complete package — drama, humour, romance, friendship. Kalathil Santhippom is a story about friendship between two men (Jiiva and himself).”
It is his first time sharing screen space with a male contemporary in Kalathil Santhippom , but Arulnithi appreciates the fact that his co-star, Jiiva, has already explored multi-starrer subjects — still a rarity in Tamil cinema — to varying degrees of success.
“[Multi-starrers] are healthy for Tamil cinema, but the subject has to be equally good to convince multiple heroes to be part of the same subject,” Arulnithi says.
Jiiva with Arulnithi in a still from ‘Kalathil Santhippom’
Comfortable genre
However, he is not about to give up on thrillers altogether. “It is my strong zone, but I need to attempt something different. With Kalathil Santhippom , my work will be exposed to a wider section of the audience because ‘family-oriented’ films tend to have better reach,” he adds.
In Kalathil Santhippom , the protagonists are kabaddi players; Arulnithi says the film’s director, N Rajasekar, roped in his friends who are local kabaddi players to help get a grasp of the sport. “For two days, we were taught the basics by kabaddi players from Karaikudi. We then filmed the kabaddi scenes in the movie for nearly seven days on a set and used real players,” he says.
Like he promises, the actor will be seen in an investigative-thriller immediately following Kalathil Santhippom ; titled Diary , the film directed by Innasi Pandian, a former associate of Ajay Gnanamuthu (who directed Arulnithi’s Demonte Colony ), has the actor play a cop. The film is awaiting release.
“There is also another film directed by Vijay of YouTube channel ‘Eruma Saani’ fame. I play a college student in it,” Arulnithi adds.
