From accountant to performing powerhouse, Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi‘s 50-film journey has been something however strange.
The actor’s fiftieth movie, the Tamil-language “Maharaja,” written and directed by Nithilan Saminathan (“Kurangu Bommai”), is an action-packed saga that blends thriller components with household drama and has a father-daughter relationship at its core. It has emerged as one of many largest Tamil hits of the 12 months.
The actor says he didn’t particularly select “Maharaja” as a milestone undertaking, however he was drawn to the story and the director’s vitality. “We do all of the movies with a lot concern and fervour. We simply needed to do what we had imagined,” Sethupathi instructed Selection concerning the movie’s success. “We didn’t anticipate this. In fact, I’m blissful. However we simply needed my producer to gather the cash, he ought to be protected. As a result of he has invested a lot cash simply based mostly on the paper [script] and the actors.”
When requested about how his private experiences as a mother or father influenced his function in “Maharaja,” Sethupathi opened up about his relationship along with his kids. “I’ve a son and daughter. I really like my daughter a lot. If she dominates me, I at all times love that. I name her ‘amma’ [mother] and my son ‘appa’ [father],” Sethupathi stated. The actor emphasised the significance of open communication along with his kids, usually sharing particulars about his work and even searching for their enter. “I maintain speaking to them and each time I’m going to shoot, if I’ve any attention-grabbing scenes, I speak to them, I share with them,” he stated. Sethupathi says he has a eager sense of duty about his selection of subject material and takes his kids’s strategies severely. “I by no means undertaking myself as a father determine, no. Typically I’m the child,” Sethupathi stated.
Starting his skilled life as an accountant, Sethupathi yearned to be an actor and initially joined a theater firm the place the one emptiness was for – an accountant. “I believed if I be part of as an accountant, I can watch the actors every single day. I may be with them. I can speak to them. I can perceive what performing is,” Sethupathi defined. “The whole lot was my classes. Even lunchtime was a category for me. Being with actors was at all times a category.”
The actor’s subsequent journey from junior artist to main man was highlighted when he recalled capturing his first scene as a lead in the identical auditorium the place he as soon as labored as an additional. “I by no means imagined that circle would full like this,” Sethupathi mirrored. “There are such a lot of circles I’ve like this.”
Since then, Sethupathi’s journey to this milestone movie has been marked by a string of critically acclaimed performances in Tamil cinema. His breakout function in 2012 title “Pizza” established him as a expertise to observe, whereas movies like “Vikram Vedha” (2017), “96” (2018), and “Tremendous Deluxe” (2019) cemented his fame as one of the versatile actors within the business. Identified for his capacity to vanish into various characters, Sethupathi has change into a mainstay in each business and arthouse cinema.
“Maharaja” has been chosen because the closing evening characteristic on the Indian Movie Competition of Los Angeles (IFFLA), one of many oldest Indian-themed movie festivals on this planet. For Sethupathi, it’s one other full-circle second – he beforehand visited L.A. for the prosthetics make-up work performed for 2018 movie “Seethakaathi.” “That was my twenty fifth movie. Now I’m going once more to LA for my fiftieth movie, at a pageant,” Sethupathi stated. “Life is a wonderful script, my life has so many connections.”
One other connection was filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who performs the antagonist in “Maharaja.” Their connection started in 2016 once they had been set to work on a undertaking that didn’t materialize. In 2018, Kashyap performed the antagonist in “Imaikkaa Nodigal” by which Sethupathi had an prolonged cameo, however they didn’t have any scenes collectively. Years later, Kashyap requested Sethupathi to observe his directing effort “Kennedy” and supply suggestions. “I noticed the movie and instructed him no matter I felt, my opinions concerning the movie, and he appreciated it,” Sethupathi recalled. “Then he put a ‘Particular Thanks’ for me within the movie when it was screened at Cannes. That was stunning.”
With current forays into Hindi cinema with movies like “Jawan” and “Merry Christmas,” plus the hit Prime Video sequence “Farzi,” Sethupathi has now change into a pan-Indian phenomenon. “I’ve to learn the dialogues 100-200 instances to get the move,” he stated of working in Hindi. He has since integrated that methodology into his Tamil work as effectively. He’s open to extra Hindi tasks, and his method to deciding on tasks stays constant throughout industries: “It is determined by the script. I’ve been listening to tales from Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. I’m simply ready for good scripts.”
Subsequent up for Sethupathi are Vetrimaaran’s “Viduthalai Half 2,” a Disney+ Hotstar sequence the place he reunites along with his “Aandavan Kattalai” and “Kadaisi Vivasayi” director M. Manikandan, and Mysskin’s “Practice.”
