Sometimes, the universe has an interesting way of granting you what you seek. In the case of 23-year-old Amitash, the acting chance of his life came when he was least prepared for it. “I was at the wedding of Anirudh’s sister,” he recalls. Popular music director Anirudh is a childhood friend. “I met Dhanush there, and he thought I would be right for the villain’s role in Velaiyilla Pattathari ( VIP ).” Dhanush, of course, did not know then that the Chennai-born Amitash had always dreamt of making it big in films. He had decided to be a star when he was three, and had just seen Baazigar (1993). “I told my mother then that I was going to become an actor.” Quite unlike the transient pipe dreams of most children, Amitash’s aspiration lingered.
A regular face in the Chennai theatre scene, he has been a part of the popular theatre group Madras Players, and founded his own group called Theatron while studying Electronic Media at Anna University. After a Master’s degree, he signed up for acting classes at Anupam Kher’s school in Mumbai called Actor Prepares. Then, well, he did the usual ‘actor thing’. “I networked, I sent e-mails, and of course, I mailed many, many pictures of myself.” Finally, a chance encounter at a wedding and the prized role of Arun Subramaniam was in the bag.
“I liked how Arun wasn’t a usual Tamil cinema villain,” he says. “He is suave and comes with his own insecurities.” Amitash was a nervous wreck on his first day on the sets, despite his extensive theatre experience. The medium was unfamiliar, and so was the whole process of filmmaking. “Much credit to everybody — the lead actors, the costume designers, and the assistant directors — for helping me settle down,” he says.
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There was much that Amitash learned by acting alongside an actor of Dhanush’s stature. “I saw that he was willing to do anything for the film. I noticed how he was already mentally prepared when he stepped on the sets. His love for the medium is extremely infectious.”
Amitash’s theatre experience, of course, stood him in good stead. Performing came easy; the not-so-easy part was getting used to the technicalities of filmmaking. “Unlike in theatre, camera space is restricted,” he says, “But once I got used to such details, I couldn’t wait to get back into a shot.” Amitash explains that it also helped that he didn’t try to over-intellectualise each scene. It’s now been a week since the film’s release, and Amitash has of course been to various theatres to gauge audience reactions. “I’m happy to say they hate my character,” he laughs. One line in particular, when his character talks about his hatred of ‘local pasanga’, infuriated the audience so much that they shouted abuse at the screen. “Thankfully, the film ends on a good note, and I didn’t have to worry about being attacked,” he says. Dhanush condescendingly addresses him as Amul Baby in the film, a nickname that’s caught on. “When people spot me, there are cries of ‘Amul Baby’!”
Amitash is ambitious, and is already talking of wanting to play the lead in his next film. Well, Rajinikanth and Shah Rukh Khan started off playing villains, he says, “and I’ve trained all my life for it.”
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