The question has been probably asked to death, but I risk it and ask Ashwin Kakumanu anyway: when will he get to become a full-blown Gautham Vasudev Menon hero? His voice remains calm on the other end of the phone. He’s probably smiling to himself. “When you have started out as a character artiste in his film or in Venkat Prabhu’s film, the dream is that one day you will be called to play the lead. When that will be, you never know,” he replies.
Last year, when Gautham saw him sporting a thick moustache and expressed curiosity, it was possibly the closest Ashwin would have got to realising that dream. “He said that look would suit the lead for a love-action film that he had in mind. I know he’s a man flooded with different sorts of projects. But that he even said that, that he could see me as his lead meant a lot to me.”
A cursory look at Ashwin’s career graph reveals he is not someone who said yes to every project which came his way. For someone who started out in the Tamil cinema industry six years ago, he has only nine projects to his credit. “I’m glad I’ve been able to choose and work on scripts that I’ve liked,” he says. This year, he is playing the lead in three films. Rathindran Prasad’s Idhu Vedhalam Sollum Kadhai seems to be the first of that lot that would hit the screens. His character is a struggling video game designer, under pressure to deliver his project — one that has a lot of adventure. “It is one of the best scripts I have heard. I like fantasy movies that test your imagination, the ones that take you to far off lands. And this one is based on Vikaramaditya’s tale.”
That last bit caused a bit of panic when his director realised another Tamil film with a similar inspiration, Vikram-Vedhaa (starring R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathy), was being made by the husband-wife duo Pushkar-Gayathri. Rathindran informally met them for a cross-referencing of scripts to see if there was a major overlap. “There wasn’t. Theirs was more metaphorical. Our film has secret societies and kings. It has a vibe similar to The Mummy … it’s very pulpy,” says Ashwin.
For someone who is best remembered as having played a corrupt cop in Venkat Prabhu’s Mankatha and having a flair for characters with shades of grey ( Nadunisi Naygal , Zero , Megha ), Ashwin’s role as the tragicomic banker in Gokul’s Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara (2013) is why he caught Rathindran’s eye. “He liked the stressed-out character, dealing with his problematic girlfriend with a comic tinge.” It was a character that seemed most unlikable on paper.
Ashwin understood comedy was serious business, maybe even more challenging than dramatic performances. “It was the role where I did the maximum number of rehearsals, ground work and facial reactions. Gokul said I cannot afford to be subtle here. You already had Robo Shankar and Pasupathy doing that. He said playing the cop was easy — you do a lot of staring, carry a gun around and the music does the rest. I had to go all out here.”
It paid off. He claims there is a section of his audience out there who want him to continue doing ‘time-pass’ roles as he did in … Balakumara . And then there seems to be a following for his offbeat supernatural thriller, Zero that had mixed reviews. “It was so out there … some actors turned it down because they couldn’t understand it.” Ashwin knows these films cater to a niche audience, ones who are more discerning and have an open mind. “It’s certainly a type that’s growing in number.” When he was at the theatre to watch the re-released Baasha , a guy came and slipped a note into his hand and walked off. It read: “Thanks for doing Zero. Do more films like that.” What are the chances of finding such a fan amidst a crowd that’s congregated for vintage Rajinikanth, Ashwin wonders.
There are certain perks of establishing yourself as a lead actor. It comes with a guaranteed audience regardless of what script you choose. And that means someone will surely fund it. But Ashwin is clear he does not want to be another brick in the stereotypical wall of mass heroes. “When I grew up loving cinema, I don’t ever remember saying that I wanted to be the hero. I have always tried to keep the variety going. I just want to be a part of cool movies.”
