Starting off with short films, Bobby Simha is one of the faces of the new wave sweeping across the Tamil industry. After putting in a memorable performance in Alphonse Puthren’s Neram as Vatti Raja, Bobby became a familiar face to Malayali audiences. He will be teaming up yet again with Alphonse and Nivin in a vignette of the Tamil anthology film Avial.
Talking about his reasons for acting in the film, Bobby says, “The film has beautiful stories by five new as well as veteran directors.”
“The anthology genre is not new to Malayalam but is relatively new in Tamil. The two reasons I decided to accept this film — one is the Neram team again and the other is the script. The story has unexpected twists and weird turns which will make the audience sit rooted to their seat.”
As busy as he is in Tamil and Telugu, Bobby managed to find time to act in two Malayalam films and also played Nivin Pauly’s character in the Tamil remake of Bangalore Days. He will be reprising the role of Vatti Raja in the Telugu remake of Neram.
Asked about his next appearance in Malayalam Bobby smiles, “For sure, this year! I have spoken to Alphonse and Vineeth Sreenivasan and something should happen this year though I have a lot of commitments in Tamil.”
It was Neram and the Tamil films Jigarthanda and Soodhu Kaavvum that propelled him into the limelight and he emphatically states that these three films have made him what he is today. Talking about the industry working styles Bobby candidly opines, “I do not see any difference between the industries; there is always a camera in front of me and cinema speaks a universal language. Yes, the language barrier is there, but actors convey through emotions more than language.”
The Tamil industry is witnessing a huge shift from glossy, over-the-top potboilers to subtle, realistic and small budget films that audiences can identify with. Bobby agrees, “New concepts, scripts and experimentation in making style are happening. The script is the king now and the audience crave for something novel which each film maker strives to deliver!”
Bobby has also recently donned the mantle of a producer for a Tamil film Vallavanukku Vallavan about which he says, “I did not venture into production to earn money but because of my love and emotional attachment for cinema. I found that a film with a good script had no takers and so decided to produce it. Whatever I am earning today is because of cinema and I want to give back something to the medium.”
