I forced Vijay to act in Priyamanavale'

Veteran filmmaker SA Chandrasekar has many reasons to smile. In his upcoming flick Naiyya Pudai, he plays a revolutionary man. Ask him how he feels donning the greasepaint at the age of 73, and Chandrasekar smiles, “I strongly feel that one has to be a part of winning films — irrespective of the kinds of roles — which is the mantra for success.”

Speaking about Pa Vijay, who plays one of the leads in the film, he says, “The entire story revolves around me and I was wondering how lyricist-turned-actor Vijay said ‘yes’ to the movie! When I asked him why, he told me it doesn’t matter whether he plays a small or big role — but it is quite important for him to do a successful film. The incident reminded me of my son Vijay, when he was an upcoming actor.”  

Chandrasekar recalls, “Vijay refused to act in two films. One was Priyamanavale, which was a heroine-centric film, and the other was Ninaithen Vandhaai, which had two heroines. I forced him to accept those films because I knew they had the potential to become huge hits and he had to be part of a ‘winning’ movie. I was proved right when they eventually turned out to be successful.”