After Dulquer Salmaan made his entry into Kollywood with films like Vaayai Moodi Pesavum and O Kadhal Kanmani, yet another member of the veteran Malayalam actor Mammootty’s family debuted in Tamil recently with the Shri kanth-Raai Laxmi starrer Sowcar pettai. Having acted in a dozen Malayalam films with the name Ashkar Saudan, now he has rechristened himself Hreshh. “I wanted a different name in Tamil and also believe in numerology. So, I changed it here”, he smiles.
The actor seems to be fond of villainy roles — he had no qualms starting off his career here in a negative avatar. “Right from my childhood, baddies have fascinated me on-screen. Nobody would believe me if I said I turned down even lead role offers, for performing negative roles! Even Vadivudayan (the Sowcarpettai director) was so impressed with my performance, that he offered me this role. I am quite satisfied with the overall response that I got,” he adds.
Quiz him on what Mammootty told him about Tamil films, and Hreshh tells us, “When I told him that I was working in Kollywood, he was happy and advised me to choose roles with substance. I want to continue doing only negative roles.”
