There’s nothing wrong in actors coming to politics, afterall they already have name, fame and money. So there’s no need for them to enter politics to make more money. I feel that they get into political arena only to serve people and thereby bring about a change,” remarked comedian-turned-hero Santhanam at the promo event of his upcoming film Sakka Podu Podu Raja. Directed by Sethuraman and produced by VTV Ganesh, the film has a battalion of comedians including him, Vivekh, Robo Shankar, Mayilsamy and Powerstar Srinivasan. Vaibhavi Sandilya will be Sandy’s pair.
The actor was not willing to comment about actor/Producer Council head and Nadigar Sangam secretary Vishal contesting at RK Nagar constituency in the by-elections. “That’s purely his decision. I have no opinion on that (smiles).”
Talking about the practical difficulties of turning a hero, he said, “It’s a difficult task. I have to keep my body fit, go to gym, follow diet, take dance classes etc.” What about romancing the heroine? “That’s the only nice part of being a hero (laughs). But all said and done, for that 10 or 15 minutes segment of romance on screen, I have slogged the rest of 2.5 hours. Jokes apart, I have chosen this path and I will stick to it and work towards achieving it.”
However, the Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya star says he misses all his counterparts like Arya, Jiiva, Udhayanidhi, Simbu and Vishal with whom he was sharing equal screen space when he was just a comedian. “I am really missing their warmth and fun moments with them. Arya used to say, ‘why don’t you make a clone of you and send it to us. We are missing you machan’. I wanted to become a hero not for money, but it is a part of my growth graph. I declined about 10 film offers as a comedian with the likes of Ajith, Vijay, Suriya and Vishal.
I am not aiming to become a superstar or any such thing. God has given me a gift. So, as an actor, it is my duty to entertain the masses, that’s all!” he asserts.
On the action blocks in SPPR, he quips, “This was yet another hard task. There are three big fight sequences and I had done all the fights without a body double. Kanal Kannan, who is the action choreographer, trained me well before the scenes on the actual locations itself before the shoot.”
On Simbu whom he considers as a Godfather, Sandy says, “We share a great rapport and he is the one who introduced me in a main role in Tamil
cinema. I am really blessed and proud to bring him on board for the first time to compose music for SPPR. Contrary to what people talk about STR, he gave us great songs and did re-recording in a short time. I am thankful to him.”
Would you act in a supporting role if Simbu calls you? “Why not? Having seen my film and scored a mass intro song for me in SPPR, STR pretty well knows what kind of a role should be offered to me.”
When the actor said he shares a good relationship with producer VTV Ganesh as well, it was but natural to ask if he had come down on his remunerations. “Why would I do a film for free or less salary? I have worked really hard for several months for the film and I take only what I deserve.”
