CAST CHARLE INTERVIEW

Even at a time when I didn’t know Chennai well, Balachander decided my fate by casting me in Poi Kaal Kuthirai. I kept acting in every movie of his. One day, he chided me saying that I was too popular to appear in single scene roles. But I remained adamant. Except for Poi, I have acted in every movie of the ace director ever since I started working in cinema in 1982.

I do street plays, theatre, television and cinema. The key is to perform. The medium doesn’t matter. I recently performed a play penned by professor Ramanujam. I continue to act in cinema approaching my roles as if I am doing my first film. I am surrounded by people who continue to shape my inner self.

I use youtube. However, I am not on Facebook or Twitter. My friends have been insisting that I record my experiences as I may not be able to recall them vividly 10 years later the way I do now. They want me to bridge the gap between experience and recollection by recording them and sharing them with my fans. I love sharing, but till now I haven’t had the opportunity to take to social media.

I am now getting a wider variety of roles. As I grow older, the roles have been markedly different and hence are easier to interpret. At one point, I was doing a lot of college student roles. Though those films did well, the roles became somewhat similar. I am doing a movie tentatively titled ‘Maanagaram’. I play a cab driver and the film records the night life of Chennai. The producers of Maya, Potential Studios, are backing the movie. I am also doing ‘Oru Naal Koothu’ directed by Nelson. It is about a 42-year-old bachelor, who is living in a mansion. A movie with K Rajeshwar has been scripted and discussions are going on. All these movies are markedly different from each other and from the movie one usually sees.