‘No place better than to be in front of a camera’

e last met Chiyaan Vikram at the same venue a few months ago. The actor looks more muscular this time, similar to his physique in Raavanan, but with a long hair and a beard. Tell him he looks his best now and he doesn’t agree. “No, you should have met me during the shoot of Kadaram Kondaan. That was even better. Did you like the trailer?” he asks. We give him a thumbs up and he says, “The entire film will not be a dearth of style and at the same time, it will have content that the audience expects from me.”

The aesthetically shot Kadaram Kondaan, produced by Kamal Haasan under his banner Raaj Kamal Films International, is said to resemble Hollywood movies for its technical brilliance and Vikram’s looks going by the trailer and posters.

While Indian actors have forayed into Hollywood, Vikram says that it is quite difficult for an Indian actor to be part of a regional film that looks like a Hollywood one.

“I wonder how the audience here will accept a film like how Hollywood makes. It is because their culture and nativity are in complete contrast when compared to ours. Hence, when we make films like them, there should be a good connect with the audience, in terms of script and characterisation. That is what I have done with my character KK in Kadaram Kondaan,” he explains.

Talking about bringing KK to life from what director Rajesh M Selva had on paper, the actor divulges, “Talking about connect, I made KK look mysterious but not alien. So, when I decided how I wanted to look, I decided that it should be shocking and once we designed the look, I was confident that it would click. Kamal sir was happy about the first look too when it was unveiled and so were the audience. Even on the sets, the character had its presence.”

But looks aren’t everything for a character, Vikram immediately says and then adds, “Every character we play should have something beyond how it looks. For instance, when I shot for Iru Mugan, I felt the same with my character of Love. It is not about the makeover of Love or the costumes. It is the ‘power’ I am talking about. Love’s ruthless attitude, his evilness were accepted by the audience. KK here is totally different but still he will be spoken about.”

Vikram, who is synonymous with versatility, is known to transform to characters he plays and can be seen with those shades even when he is off camera while he is on a break between schedules.

“That’s how I become. It is not something I do consciously. I get into the zone of that character so that it becomes a natural process in front of the camera. Krishna in Deiva Thirumagal, the beast character in I, Love in Iru Mugan and now KK are some of the characters for which I went into a specific zones,” he smiles.

The National award winner, who has performed various roles in different character graphs, says that his performance in Kadaram Kondaan will be subtle. “I feel some roles are within me subconsciously that I deliver in front of the camera, which you will see in Kadaram Kondaan as well. You wouldn’t have seen any of my previous roles resembling KK. Probably, the closest to that will be my role in Dhruva Natchathiram. It is because my character John in Dhruva Natchathiram (Pole Star) too could have been similar to this. But I have done my best for John and KK to look ‘poles apart’,” he winks.

After being a part of films helmed by veteran directors like Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Bala and Hari, of late, Vikram has signed films directed by new-gen directors like Anand Shankar for Iru Mugan, Rajesh M Selva in Kadaram Kondaan and Ajay Gnanamuthu for his next. “Like every other craft, cinema too is evolving every day. Every director comes with his own creativity and has positivity I look for. The way different directors create different scenarios and milieus is the mostcharming aspect of cinema, which excites me. And no place is better than to be in front of a camera with different filmmakers,” he says.

We ask him to reveal on his next with Mani Ratnam, Ponniyin Selvan, in which he plays Karikala Chozhan. He says, “I will start shooting for the film in January and it’s a brilliant script. I will also be taking off to shoot for Ajay Gnanamuthu’s next and will be shooting in Europe and Ghana. After these films I will be doing Mahavir Karna,” Vikram concludes.