While a Sonam Kapoor a Deepika Padukone and an Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are being roped in to play pivotal roles in Kollywood films, why bring in SRK or Salman to play important characters? Instead, directors down south are opting for ‘talented’ actors such who have received a lot of critical appriciation but do not have a box office hit in the recent past.
The B’wood brigade is all set to entertain the south audience with actors like Rahul Bose in Viswaroopam, Jackie Shroff in Kochadaiyaan and Manoj Bajpai in Samaran.
After entertaining the audiences in Aaranya Kaandam, director Soundarya Ashwin has roped in Jackie for Rajinikanth’s magnum opus Kochadaiyaan. Quiz Soundarya about choosing this critically acclaimed actor and she says, “The character demanded someone with the personality of Jackie Shroff. He plays a king in the movie, with a lot of grey shades. And when I visualised the scene, Jackie fits perfectly!” she excitedly added.
Talking about character roles, Oram Po director Pushkar-Gayathri says, “Roping in an actress with brand value sells because they play a lead role, whereas actors such as Jackie Shroff and Atul Kulkarni are character artistes. They are specially brought in to play a particular character,” she smiles.
Ask her about how these actors have not had a commercial hit onto their list for a very long time to which she adds, “They might not have had a box office hit, but these actors have been critically acclaimed for their acting skills. Moreover, the directors are the scriptwriters and this is one of the ways to break the monotony.
Atul Kulkarni too is one such actor, who seems to be doing many Tamil films than a Hindi film today,” she quips. Coordinator Biju Jeyadevn to seconds the thought and add, “Hollywood and Bollywood industries have special casting directors, but in the south it’s the directors call.” Actor Arun Vijay shares, “One, the audience will not be able to relate to big stars. Secondly, the directors opt for a Bollywood actor who is available, so their shooting schedule is not changed.
Roping in a big star has its risk — as the actor might have to shuttle between the two and he might end up disrupting the whole schedule. But on the market point-of-view, K’town is opening its doors to Bollywood actors and widening its market.”
