Life hasn’t been the same after Boss Engira Bosskiran for Asvin Raja, the actor who played the hilarious role of the son of the don who lends money to Santhanam and Arya in the film. That he has been flooded with offers after the film is proof of the appreciation his performance evoked.
“At the moment, I am acting in four films — Kumki , directed by Prabhu Solomon, Nedunchalai, Sillunnu Oru Santhippu and Anbendra Mozhiyilae . In Kumki , I play a mahout. I had to work for almost 66 days with an elephant for this role. I found the last 15 days difficult as the animal was in musth. I could complete my portions, thanks to the confidence the director inspired in me. While shooting them, Prabhu Solomon would say a prayer and then turn to me and say, ‘Go ahead and feed the elephant, nothing will happen,’ and I would do it,” he recalls with a smile.
However, the best part is yet to come. Not many know that Asvin is the son of one of Kollywood’s well-known producers, Lakshmi Movie Makers’ Swaminathan. Swaminathan has been instrumental in producing Anbe Sivam, Silambattam, Gokulathil Seethai, Baghavathy and Pudupettai .
With his dad being a producer, won’t it be easy for Asvin to appear as a hero in one of his films?
“If I make it big in the industry, I don’t want people to say I could achieve it only because of my dad’s backing. I want to make it on my own. I haven’t asked my dad for a chance, neither has he offered to make a film for my sake,” says Asvin firmly. Way to go, young man!
Bangkok notes
Why was Samar shot in Bangkok? Director Thiru seems to have been smitten by the city. The director, who chose to shoot almost the entire film in Thailand, says he is impressed both with the people’s professionalism and their love for their mother tongue.
Says Thiru: “First, I need to explain why I chose Bangkok to shoot my film. The hero’s character has to travel to a foreign country where he faces a communication problem. Here the hero knows English. Therefore, I needed a foreign country where English is not understood or spoken by a vast majority. When I looked up on the net, I found it was only in Thailand that very few people spoke English. So, we decided to shoot the entire film there. When we landed there, I had a terrible time getting things arranged as communication posed a major problem. Several junior artistes were from Thailand and communicating with them was a nightmare. However, I was the one having all the problems. The Thai people who worked with us didn’t seem to have any problem as they were very proud of the language they spoke. They were very good at their work. Moreover, unlike many of us who feel ashamed if we cannot speak good English, the people there had no problem stating that they were comfortable communicating only in their mother tongue. I was impressed with their dedication to work and loyalty to their mother tongue.”
