Of entertainment and breezy moments

“Rajini Murugan is my eighth film. It is a very positive and powerful title. Still, I was apprehensive about it and I asked Pon Ram sir (with whom I am teaming up for the second time) as to why this title, and how were we going to justify it. The explanation he gave was convincing, and when you watch the film you will know why he used this title. I also feel proud and happy that we could get Rajini sir’s approval for it,” Sivakarthikeyan begins his conversation. Speaking about the movie, the Varutthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam actor says, “I wouldn’t say that we have tried something new in RM. But our aim is to give clean breezy comic entertainers, which will make the audiences laugh all through the two and a half hours. The movie is set against the backdrop of Madurai, and talks about a joint family. But not the routine Madurai (violent) films which you watch.”

Siva adds he plays a village youth who is a perfectionist at whatever he does. “It has humorous narration that revolves around my family,” he tells us. Reacting to a query if he is trying to imitate the Supertsar, he says he grew up watching Rajinikanth movies right from his childhood. “I am a hardcore fan of Rajini sir. So, his impact would have been there inadvertently in my acting,” he admits. On his co-star Keerthy Suresh he says, “She is promising actress and was signed by others even while working on this project. A big plus is that she understands and speaks Tamil fluently.” On veteran Raj Kiran with whom he joins hands for the first time he says, “Even as the director was narrating the script, I asked him who he had in mind for the role of my thaatha. He said that he was thinking of approaching Raj Kiran sir. Though I was excited, I had my own doubts about how Raj Kiran sir, known for his serious and aggressive characters, would accept this soft and humorous role. I have watched his Aranmanai Kili from the front row. I even told him when we started shooting later about how thrilled I was when he came on board. I requested my director to can a scene during the action climax where both of us walk together for my personal reference. I told Pon Ram to shoot and give the footage to me. Seeing my enthusiasm, he added the scene in the film.”

The Maan Karate actor reveals that there are no smoking scenes in RM so that kids also can enjoy the film. “Even in the past, my scripts never demanded a smoking scene and I too avoided such scenes. In future also, I will try not to do smoking scenes since kids and women throng to theatres to watch my films,” he explains.

Siva gets excited when talking about his daughter. “She can identify Rajini sir, Ajith and Vijay on sight, and calls them ‘uncle’ when she watches them on television,” he laughs.

The actor candidly admits that he’s a bit weak when it comes to dance movements. “I learnt dance when I was working on television shows. After coming to cinema, I put in a lot of effort to equip myself to dance. Now, people say I improved compared to my earlier flicks,” he says and adds, Imman’s songs are said to be a strong point of Rajini Murugan.

“All the songs have already become a hit, especially the Ennamma Ippadi Panreengale Ma number has given an additional strength in the album and has become an identity to the film. He has also made me sing the song Rajini Murugan,” Siva concludes.