A versatile talent in demand

Vikram Vedha is undoubtedly the talk of  town. In addition to having a brilliant story and being quality fare, the film has also identified a budding talent, Manikandan, who has written the dialogues for the film and played a strong role in it.

Manikandan is many things at once — he has directed an indie film titled Narai Eluthum Suya Saritham, which has won honours at five international film festivals. He has been a RJ at a popular FM channel, and also a dubbing artist for films and TV shows. The latest achievement is that the young actor has bagged a role in Rajinikanth’s Kaala.

From being a fan of Rajinikanth to acting along side his idol, Manikandan’s journey has been fascinating. “Mimicry was my first tryst. A popular reality comedy show turned out to be a platform for me. I was the runner-up of a season and I realised that my voice is my talent. So, I went on to become a RJ and then dubbed for shows,” he begins.

Later he started playing small roles in films like India Pakistan and Netru Indru Naalai, and eventually bagged a role in Nalan Kumarasamy’s Kadhalum Kadanthu Pogum — “It was during the shoot, I got pretty friendly with Vijay Sethupathi anna. After that project, I went on to act in 8 Thottakal, and then I got a call from Vijay anna who said  Pushkar and Gaythri wanted to meet  me for a role. It was initially an audition but then I was asked to work on the dialogues. Eventually, I ended up writing for the entire movie.”

Writing for films is not new to Manikandan since he has already written and co-directed Pizza 2 -Villa. Talking about his role in Rajinikanth’s Kaala, an excited Manikandan says, “Pa. Ranjith once called me and told me that my YouTube channel Sari Pesi Papom was pretty interesting. Later, I was called for an audition for which many actors came. But at the end, I got the role. It is really great to work with someone like Superstar.”