It is always a pleasure catching up with one of the country’s most accomplished actors. For Vijay Sethupathi his vocation in life is an opportunity to do work that would better the lives of people who watch his film.
He did Merry Christmas for all the right reasons.“It ticked off all the right boxes for me. Everyone associated with the project knew we were doing something special , something unique ,not done before.Now when the appreciation has started pouring in for both the Hindi and Tamil versions, I feel our hard work is paying off,” says Vijay with a rare humility and gratitude ,adding that his audience in Tamil Nadu thought it was dubbed in Tamil. “It took them a while to understand that Merry Christmas was shot in Hindi and Tamil and that is my voice in both languages.”
He recalls his innumerable meetings with director Sriram Raghavan. “I wanted to work with him. When he offered me Merry Christmas it felt godsent. As an actor I am always hungry. I want new experiences constantly. This was something I had not done before. It was romantic and a bit dark. Why are we actors scared to explore darkness? The darker it is, the more our chances of emerging stronger in the light.”
With Sriram, Vijay says he was immediately bonded. “We met 40-50 times and not for just work or to discuss scenes. I think it is very important for me as an actor to get to know how my director thinks, how his mind works. I have to be on the same chapter. Sriram and I would just meet, not even talk. Just share silences. Have coffee together. With time the bonding between us grew. I was able to understand what was required of me as an actor. When we shot Sriram could tell exactly what I was thinking, and I could tell what he was thinking.”
Vijay stumps me by confessing this is how he works with all his directors. “I get to know them so I can know the character. The people I play on the screen are a reflection of the directors’ thought process. When I was doing a film called Super Deluxe where I played a transgender character I tried to understand the director Thiagarajan Kumararaja to get a grip on my character.”
So was Super Deluxe the most challenging character of Vijay Sethupathi’s career? “I wouldn’t say that, Sir. To me every character is a challenge. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it. I approach every role with the same sense of curiosity and ignorance. I tell the director to guide me as I am stupid and ignorant. What I mean is, I am a student every time I do a film.I never sit back and look at my performances with a sense of satisfaction. When one film is over, I am thinking about the next.There is a constant feeling of hunger and curiosity that keeps me going in search of new characters.”
There is also a constant need to make his audience happy. “I don’t want to insult them by calling them my fans. There are the people who have made me what I am. I have people reaching out to me from Japan and China. A lady came to Chennai from Japan to meet me. I met her, fed her South Indian food, when I asked her how she liked it she surprised me by answering in Tamil.She had learnt the Tamil language especially for me. This kind of love is a blessing,Sir. A gift from God. You can’t take it for granted.”
