Horror is a producer-friendly genre: Ashok

“I chose this film mainly because of the director and the producer of the film Sai. Everyone in the industry talks about an aspiring actor’s struggles. However, aspiring producers go through a lot of struggles. An actor succeeds only when the producer is successful. I have also known Sampath for quite some time now and we have been discussing good scripts. Of all that we discussed, why I chose to do a horror film because I believe it is a producer-friendly genre. Apart from crime thrillers, it is this genre that attracts the mass to theatres,” Ashok told DT Next. Mayathirai is set in the backdrop of a theatre, which has Chandini Tamilarasan and Sheela Rajkumar as female leads. 

“There are 26 ghosts in the film and you would know why when you watch it. Those 26 ghosts are artistes from kids to sexagenarians. It has provided opportunities to new faces and has tapped new potential. Also, I come from a strong theatre background and I was glued to the story even as Sampath narrated it to me,” he added.

Ashok said that he is trying to strike a balance with the choices he makes. “There are some movies that would satiate my hunger as an actor and then I do some films for my livelihood as well. I’m trying to make the best of both worlds. When I knock at a director’s door, I’m glad that I do it as a qualified professional who has trained himself in dance and other art forms,” he opened up. Talking about his other projects he said, “My web series Kuruthi Kalam recently released on MX Player in which I play a character called Item Kumar. There is a trilingual film too in the making and I am awaiting the release of Otthaiku Ottha in which I share screen space with Atharvaa.”