A man in a grey shirt walks towards us. “Hello, I’m Anbu,” he smiles. He suddenly remembers he’s forgotten something in the car and excuses himself.
In a minute, he is back.
Or so, we think. He says hello yet again and exchanges pleasantries, leaving us bewildered. Grinning, he says, “I’m Arivu.”
It’s a stunt the identical twins enjoy pulling off.
Much like they enjoy the stunts they get their film heroes to perform — twins Anbu and Arivu, popularly called Anbariv, are among the top stunt masters in Kollywood today, known for their realistic sequences.
With over 75 films in different languages under their belt, the most recent one being Rajinikanth-starrer Kabali, it looks like their combination is a (t)winning one at the box office.
The introduction
Growing up in Vadapalani, ‘Fighter’ Manikandan was their first hero. “He used to have a Shogun and ride like a hero in the area,” recalls Anbu. “He wore such cool clothes. Even the shoes were bright and stood out. Everywhere he went, they called him ‘Fighter’. Avlo gethu-a irupaar.”
It was an inspiration their parents, a banker and a teacher, didn’t take too kindly to. “Our family didn’t want us venturing into anything too risky,” he says. “The logic was that if one of us had our face smashed up, we would look very different from the other. They wanted us to look the same throughout our lives.” But the twins had other plans. Even as children, they were always looking for some action.
“We didn’t like tuitions; we liked going to boxing classes. We hated sitting in front of computers; we were mostly outdoors doing gymnastic sessions. When we played cricket, we used to fight over who’d scale the wall to fetch the ball when others were just content watching,” they say.
All this climbing and jumping helped them decide that they wanted a rough life — one that involved getting down and dirty. But what really helped were the fights they had with each other.
“Normally, there’s some age difference between brothers, and there’s scope for some give and take. But since we were born just 10 minutes apart, we were always fighting — right from which channel to watch to what kind of watch to wear.” The one thing, however, they saw eye-to-eye on was that their future lay in stunts. And, perhaps, cinema.
The interval block
Anbu and Arivu loved movies and their action sequences. They’d mostly watch action films (even today, their office walls feature the artwork of action heroes and their moves) and discuss the intricacies in them. When they decided that they’d get into films, it was a joint decision.
“I entered the field first,” says Anbu, “I earned enough for both of us and Arivu supported me a lot. After one year, Arivu brushed up his skills and entered the industry. We were both dupes then — whenever we did the hero’s sequences, we felt like stars ourselves.”
Thereon, they became part of the stunt teams for leading ‘masters’ in the industry — Anbu joined ‘Stunt’ Siva and Arivu teamed up with Anal Arasu and Peter Hein. “I was the 13th in the long list of assistants,” says Anbu, “It was tough.” But they toiled — on different film sets. Within a year, Anbu rose to ‘first assistant’, a coveted post.
“Eventually, I became indispensable for a fight sequence,” he says. One day, he announced he’d no longer work alone — Arivu had to be alongside him. Thus was born Anbariv. The brothers went on to work on major films such as Naan Mahaan Alla, Thenavattu, Arul, Billa 2, Kaavalan, 7aum Arivu and Aegan.
The climax
As stunt masters, they started out in Malayalam — doing a film called Bachelor Party. Since then, Anbariv have worked on more than 70 films in various languages. They talk passionately about composing a fight, about how it needs to naturally weave into the scene. Like the riveting pre-interval block in Madras. Or, the pulsating scene of Rajinikanth mowing down the bad guy with a car in Kabali. “The story and situation are our inspirations,” says Arivu, “When we sit down for a discussion, we take in the story and the character sketch and look for what we can do in terms of stunts.”
One thing they actively work towards is realism. “For us, staging a fight is like doing an entire film,” says Anbu, “We try detailing it well — the props, the location — between us, and only after we reach a consensus do we put forth the idea.” On sets, it helps that the twins are always together. “We have a lot of advantages. One of us is always with the director and the other with the hero; that makes things smooth. Ours is always a double decision. For us, togetherness has always been our strength.”
Their work will be seen in many forthcoming biggies, including Iru Mugan, Kashmora, Rangoon and S3. There’s a Malayalam film as well; the twins are working on Prithviraj’s next project, the shoot of which is currently on in Hyderabad. “We’ll be off later this week to complete a schedule there,” they say. “Hope you find the time to taste the biriyani there,” we tell Anbu. The other twin grins. We’ve been fooled, yet again.
The Kabali experience
Kabali has been life-changing for Anbariv. The recognition they’ve got from this Rajinikanth project has been phenomenal. It all started with one phone call from director Ranjith.
“All he said was that he was working with a big star. He wanted us to guess who. We proposed three names — all top stars — but he simply told us we were wrong and asked us to visit him the next day. We brothers had a talk that night — who could it be, bigger than the names that we told him? Surely, it cannot be Rajinikanth,” said Anbu.
It was indeed Rajinikanth they were roped in to work with. “We kept thinking it was a prank; fortunately, it wasn’t. Going to Rajini sir’s house with Ranjith’s team the next day was like a dream; he offered us some mor (buttermilk) and ensured we were comfortable. For the next hour-and-a-half, he spoke extensively about Kabali. He wanted us to recreate the same magic that we did in Madras. The experience of working with him is something we’ll never forget.”
