Vijay Antony, the composer-turned-hero, who has carved a niche for himself with the kind of titles and scripts he chooses, is back with a political thriller. He has teamed up with Jeeva Shankar who directed him in Naan, his debut movie as an actor. In an exclusive to DC, Vijay Antony spills the beans on choosing unusual titles, meaty scripts and his next project Annadurai among others.
“From the day I started acting in films, I am facing this problem of finding an investor. It started with my second film Salim and I guess no one has titled a film with a Muslim name. People think that since I tasted success, sentimentally I am keeping quirky titles. No, it is not that!” he starts his conversation.
Justifying the Yaman title, he says, “It is very apt for the story. Yaman is an avatar of Lord Shiva and called Yama Dharma Raja. Dharma means justice. Sadly, he has been portrayed wrongly on our films. Here in the film, I play a politician, Tamilarasan and from the villain point of view, I am ‘Yaman’ to him. If you ask whether I am a good or bad politician, I have to say that every human has positive and negative side to him or her. (smiles)”
On the inspiration for his character, he says, “No, he is a fictitious politician created by Jeeva Shankar and will not reflect the current political scenario as misconstrued by some. The director narrated the story five years back when we were doing Naan.”
The India Pakistan actor says that his strength lies in the fact that he walks those extra miles during post production of his films. “There are born actors. But, I am not a good actor. I do the right work including editing, composing during postproduction and see that it is packaged well. I believe that a film can be saved on the editing table. I don’t take exaggerated cinematic liberties.”
Though he is many things at once, Vijay Antony is not keen on direction — “Not that I can’t do it, but I feel it is not necessary. There are many number of young talents who come up with good scripts.”
When asked why he doesn’t opt for big heroines and prefers newcomers, he quips, “If there’s a requirement we can have a bigger heroine on board. It is the script that commands who will fit in the character and the director is there to fix someone who is apt for it.”
The soft-spoken actor says that his next film with an intriguing title Annadurai is not a biopic of late Dravidian leader and former CM of Tamil Nadu. “It is a pure commercial film and has nothing to do with the late politician. It is too early to talk about it now,” he signs off.
