Vishal and Samantha, who are coming together for the first time in Irumbu Thirai, in debutant Mithran’s direction, talk to DC about how important the film is, in their respective careers, their on-screen chemistry, the characters they essay and more.
While Vishal will be seen as an army officer Major R. Kathiravan, Samantha portrays Dr. Rathi Devi, a psychologist. ‘Action King’ Arjun will be locking horns with Vishal as an antagonist.
‘I felt Vishal was younger to me!’
Samantha Akkineni, who was in the city for the shoot of the upcoming action thriller, Irumbu Thirai, looked blissful in a black ensemble during the trailer launch of the film. She shares about her fun experiences while shooting.
“People call me a Hyderabad girl. But I went from Pallavaram to Hyderabad. So, I am very much a Chennai ponnu,” Sam starts her conversation in a lively manner.
When queried about how her life has changed post her marriage, the pretty actress was quick to respond with a smile — “Nothing has changed after the wedding. In fact, I returned to shooting within three days of the ceremony.”
Unlike Bollywood, married actresses are not a preferred lot for lead heroines in K’town. Is that the case, we ask Sam. “I don’t feel so. People still approach me with good scripts.”
Talking about her co-star Vishal, she said, “I have shared screen space with the likes of Suriya and Vijay and the relationship was like I used to address both of them as ‘sir’ as a mark of respect. And when I came to the sets of Irumbu Thirai, I felt it was just the opposite. Vishal’s energy level was very high and at times I felt he was younger to me! (laughs)”
With the kind of warmth and friendliness he showers, I didn’t feel like addressing Vishal as sir. It was wonderful working with him. And with his new looks and performance, I consider IT is his best film.”
On debutant director Mithran, she said, “I have hardly worked with new directors. But, Mithran was confident of his work and now seeing the final product, I am happy I took the right decision of signing Irumbu….”
The Theri actress was also happy to team up with Yuvan Shankar Raja after her first released Tamil movie Bana Kathaadi. However, the pretty actress signed off saying, “I miss Chennai very much as my house is here and my parents also live here.”
‘Samantha is a lovely person’
Vishal, who is out of the RK Nagar election hullaballoo and back to his film business, looked calm and composed. The actor admitted that Irumbu Thirai took a long time to complete due to his Producer Council elections and other reasons.
“I wanted the industry to be good, hence, paused the film because of the TFPC elections. It was planned for April 2017 release. Out of the many people, who wanted my RK Nagar nomination cancelled, director Mithran was one! (smiles) He feared that shooting would get delayed further.”
Speaking about his decision to contest in the by-poll, he adds, “I’m honest and I know what my inner voice tells me.” On the film, he says, “When Mithran narrated the script, I wanted to do it immediately. It addresses the issues faced by the society today and it’s going to be an important film in my career.”
Speaking about Sam, Vishal states, “Rather than calling her a beautiful girl, I would say she is a lovely person. I feel like a college student when she is around. It’s nice to have a co-star like her! The romantic track in the film is crucial and is also a major plus.” Vishal also mentioned that Robo Shankar is a stress buster on the sets!
On Arjun, who plays an antagonist and with whom Vishal started his career as an assistant director, he said, “I don’t know what to say about Arjun sir, who agreed to be part of the film and I am immensely thankful to him. It has been a fantastic journey for me. More than the positives from the modern technology, we wanted to show the negative side of it through Irumbu Thirai. The last 20 minutes climax portions of the film will be fabulous.”
Reacting to a query on will he be supporting Rajinikanth if he floats a political party, he said, “Let sir announce his plans, I will answer then.”
The president of TFPC thanked the state government for announcing the subsidy for Tamil films even as he requested them to release it to all producers before Pongal festival so that it will help them in a big way.
