Having admired Vijay anna for so long, it was tough to act alongside him: Shanthnu

This lockdown is proving to be a time of self discovery for Shanthnu Bhagyaraj. The actor has now turned director with a short film, which also stars him and his wife, Kiki. “It revolves around a couple and how they are spending the lockdown. I’ve another short ready, which is a thriller,” begins an excited Shanthnu.
On the film front, the actor will be next seen in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vijay-starrer Master.“This is a big film for me and I was looking forward to the release. Nonetheless, this is a situation most in the industry are going through, and I’m looking at it positively. I think there’s a lot more curiosity about the film now,” he states.
Talking about his experience working on the film, the actor says, “It was a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to work with Vijay anna. I was awestruck looking at how he prepares himself for the role. Having admired him for so long, it was a tough task to act alongside him. Lokesh doesn’t have a script paper, but is so sure of what he is going to do. He’s cast all known faces in the movie for a reason. Even if you take out one character in the film, the ‘wow’ factor will reduce.”
Apart from Master, Shanthnu has a romcom with Athulya Ravi, and Vikram Sugumaran’s Raavana Koottam with Anandhi. “Right now, I only want to entertain people. If I decide to experiment and it doesn’t work, I am going to go down. I am doing a film like Master because I’m sure I’ll get 100 per cent visibility through this... even more than from a film in which I play the lead. Even in Vaanam Kottattum, which I did because it was from Mani Ratnam sir’s banner, I didn’t play the lead, but my character had good reach. I’ve realised that what you do doesn’t matter, where you do matters. When you show your talent in such films, people will come and watch you, like you, and eventually, will be convinced to watch your other films. It is a slow climb, but this is the path I want to take right now,” he says with conviction.
Ask him about his take on small and medium-budget films opting for a direct OTT release, and he says, “It’s a good thing. With no clarity on the release now, how will producers recover their money? These films don’t get the right show timings. On the flip side, OTT platforms are largely watched by A centre audience. I wish B and C centre audiences, too, watch them as there’s a lot of good content there.”
Watch the interview with Shanthnu: