I want to be an action hero, says Rahul Vijay Working on discipline and balance

Actor Rahul Vijay is the son of multiple award-winning technician and fight master Vijayan. After completing a handful of films, his next movie featuring Megha Akash, will be directed by Abhimanyu Buddhi. Vijay says the yet-to-be-titled movie is a breezy romantic comedy set in Hyderabad and Goa.

“I play a selfish millionaire; my role takes a different turn after an incident in Goa,” reveals Vijay.

According to the actor, the role was too good to forgo and he feels he’s lucky to have got such a character at such an early stage in his career. Added to that, the film has a great team of top-notch technicians, he says.

Rahul Vijay in the film set. (By Arrangement)

Vijay shares that he likes to experiment with genres.

“But I haven’t planned anything. I am only choosing from what I’m offered. What matters to me is artistic satisfaction. If the character isn’t driving me to go to the sets, then it’s a sign that I am not giving my 100 per cent,” the actor asserts.
While his father has been in the industry for over 35 years, Vijay says his journey hasn’t been a cake-walk. We ask whether it’s an advantage being the son of a top technician, and he responds smiling, “It’s a grey area. I am neither considered an outsider nor seen as an insider, so I am caught in between.”

“Being the son of a reputed technician may earn you the opportunity, but ultimately it’s for me to deliver,” he stresses, adding that he had to audition for all his parts.

Pointing out that every actor goes through different struggles, he says he has realised the importance of working hard, and also that the results of the effort are not in our hands.

The actor asserts that the choice of script rests solely with him, and that his father is not involved in the decision-making. “My father gives me the creative freedom to choose a script. He feels that since I am the one who is acting, I have to be satisfied with the story and will not have regrets later,” he says.

Vijay was trained from childhood in kick-boxing and martial arts. He says that his ultimate goal is to become an action hero. “Not because my father is an action choreographer but because I grew up watching Jackie Chan and action films of other heroes; I am a big fan of action films, and wanted to be in that zone,” he shares.

Ask him to name the biggest trait he has imbibed from his father, and Vijay replies, “Discipline. I am amazed at my father’s longevity. Being in the industry for over three decades is not easy. I realised that to get there, discipline and hard work are essential.”

“Also, my dad takes criticism in his stride,” reveals Vijay. “He has a balanced reaction to both success and failure. I’m practicing not getting emotional,” the young actor says, adding, “My father and my family are always my biggest critics.”