Actor Pavel Navageethan is super kicked about Vada Chennai , which marks his first association with filmmaker Vetri Maaran. Pavel was initially called to play a minor role. However, it was Vetri Maaran who decided to develop his character and retained him for the most part. “When I got a call from them, I was told that the dates could be extended based on my performance. One day, Vetri Maaran noticed that I had combination scenes with almost all actors in the film,” says Pavel, speaking over phone.
It’s hard to paint characters with shades of white and black, especially in a gangster saga. And, Pavel is quick to admit that his character has grey shades. “I play Velu’s (actor Pawan) brother in the film. Obviously, I cannot reveal much about the character, but he’s neither a friend nor an enemy of Dhanush,” says Pavel, who plays a character called Siva.
Having worked with Pa Ranjith and Vetri Maaran, Pavel observes that both filmmakers visualise North Chennai differently, without any common threads. “Even though Vada Chennai may remind you of Madras , Vetri Maaran’s treatment is completely different from Ranjith’s. And everything, be it the dialect or certain mannerisms, had to be changed for the film.”
Dhanush and Vetri Maaran on the sets of ‘Vada Chennai’
Even though Pavel has acted in quite a few films, he’s still known by his screen name ‘Madras Viji’. He believes that audiences realise the potential of a character artiste only in a star-driven vehicle. “For a film like Kuttram Kadithal , in which I played one of the leads, I myself had to ask my friends to watch it. However, you don’t have to take that effort say, in a Dhanush or Karthi’s film.”
Unlike other artistes, Pavel considers himself fortunate to have played a variety of roles. “It’s a blessing to be a supporting artiste. You have so many restrictions if you’re the hero of the film. He has to compromise on certain things for the audiences. Whereas a character artiste has the liberty to do whatever they want. If you look at Nasser or Prakash Raj, they have sustained this long because of the characters they played,” he says.
Asked whether he would feature in the upcoming parts, Pavel says, “I’m not sure about the third part, but I’m definitely there in the second. When I came on board, I wasn’t cast to play Pawan’s brother. In a sense, it’s the characters that define Vada Chennai and not the story.”
Pavel is confident that Vada Chennai will get him the much-needed recognition. If it does, he owes it to Vetri Maaran, who, Pavel feels, is a terrific actor. “Had I matched at least 10 % of what Vetri did, I will be reasonably happy. We have lost a brilliant actor in the form of director Vetri Maaran,” he says.
