In films, hits and misses are common: Vijay Antony

Vijay Antony started as a sound engineer and turned composer quite by accident. When he began donning grease paint, industry pundits were, to begin with, sceptical about his acting abilities. He proved himself with his debut film Naan. And then a bigger hit with Pichaikaran was enough for opinions to change drastically.  He has now become an actor to be reckoned with.

Often criticised for unusual titles that seemed very adverse like Saithaan and Yaman to name just two, Antony is now gearing up for his tenth film - a suspense thriller, again with the negative title of Kolaigaran where he essays a murderer on a killing spree.

Arjun Sarja and Ashima Narwal share screen space with him in the film directed by Andrew of Leelai fame.

Vijay Antony speaks about the film - hits the screens on June 7 - and how sustaining success is tough, how he takes failures in his stride, why he resolved not to indulge in multitasking except sticking to acting and reinvent himself.

Opting for scripts with negative shades:
Filmmaking is a craft. Films are an entertainment media. Not all films should have a moral to convey. And whatever I essay on screen are only mere characters created by filmmakers. There is this government body named Censor Board which moderates our content. If the script demands a message to be delivered like in my earlier film Pichaikaran, it will be addressed.

On his upcoming flick Kolaigaran
Kolaigaran, directed by my friend, the very talented Andrew, is about a man who is on a hunt to kill those who wronged him and he is justified in his own way. Arjun sir plays a cop. Ashima Narwal, former Miss Australia will be seen as my pair.  I fall hook, line and sinker for her and stalk her to achieve my goal. It was I who suggested Ashima as I found her extremely arty.

You have turned down two-hero subjects earlier
Yes, I did! But it is not a fixed thing. It depends upon what kind of role I get and how important it is in the story. In the case of Kolaigaran, Andrew’s portrayal of my character Prabhakaran was amazing and I didn’t want to let go off my hands.

You said you froze seeing Arjun perform and forgot your dialogues
It was not out of getting panicky. When I see someone performing extraordinarily well in front of me, I freeze and tend to forget my dialogues as I start admiring them. The same thing happened with Arjun sir. It has happened to me even with a junior artiste. While shooting for Salim, there’s an emotional scene where a father character played by small time actor Ponds who will speak a few lines about his daughter who was sexually abused and fall at my feet. I went speechless for a minute seeing the actor’s feat.

So, how do you go about choosing scripts?
I am not a good actor. But I guess I have good taste and knowing well my plus and minuses, I choose scripts. Also, I try to improvise them to go well with my face and real nature.  That helps me to succeed to some extent.

Tell us about the quirky promos of Kolaigaran
Thanks to producer Pradeep who offered me the project at an appropriate time when I was a bit low in my career. Producer Dhananjayan presents the movie. More than making a film, promoting it in the right way and reaching out to masses is very important. That way, Dhananjayan is doing a great job. He is promoting it with creative posters paying tributes to old and recent classic thrillers for the last few weeks. It has been well received.

Failures are meant to reinvent myself
Hits and misses are common in anyone’s life. I don’t care about others. I should take a call and take the responsibility if a film hits or flops. Despite acting in ten films, a few criticise I am still not able to emote or dance well. If you look at my career graph, I was a sound engineer for 5 years, music composer for 7 years and an actor only for the last 5 years. I felt my multitasking like editing, producing, distributing, acting and composing did not allow me to focus fully on acting. That’s the reason I have resolved not to indulge in anything else except concentrating in acting when I sign a film. I want to turn a better performer and refresh myself.

Moreover, cinema is a big medium and it is not that easy to get a strong foothold here. It is not about being blessed with good looks and talents. It’s altogether a different perspective.

Actors coming into politics
Why not? Anyone can come to politics. Take care of your family first and do something for people surrounding you. I am not averse to politics. But the time has to come. Sometimes I go with my whims. Who knows I may even start a ‘tea kadai’ (Tea Shop) in future (Laughs).