Vijay Sethupathi can slip into any role with effortless ease, says Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren director

Director Arumugakumar, who is gearing up for his debut film Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren, has been travelling with Vijay Sethupathi since the formative days of his career when the latter made heads turn with the super-hit black comedy Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom which went on to become a cult film. “I knew him even before we made NKPK. He was auditioning for a film I was part of before his transformation as a lead hero. Our friendship has been quite long. But as a human being, he is still the same Vijay Sethupathi I witnessed back then,” says Arumugakumar in this exclusive chat with Firstpost. Delving a little more into the stardom that Vijay Sethupathi has achieved today with a delicate balance of commercial and parallel cinema, Arumugakumar says, “He has come a long way in cinema, yet I see no change in the way he interacts with a director. Maybe he can sense some difference in me because I was not this serious a few years before. But, he has never taken his successes to the head till date. When he was an upcoming actor, he would give his proper inputs to improvise a scene. And now too, he discusses with his directors to stage a scene in more better ways. So, it’s not that Vijay Sethupathi is providing his contributions after he transformed into a star. He has always been like that.” [caption id=“attachment_4321079” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Vijay Sethupathi in Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren[/caption] The first look poster and the video promos of Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren have grabbed the attention of netizens and movie buffs, thanks to Vijay Sethupathi’s eight different makeovers in the film. “We didn’t decide to have eight looks for Vijay Sethupathi as a marketing gimmick. The story demanded it, and we took up the challenge. But, it’s nothing serious as some of you can imagine. ONNPS will be a rib-tickling comedy entertainer,” said Arumugakumar without divulging anything about the film’s plot. Prod him about the film’s one-liner; he says, “If I tell the one-liner, it will reveal the entire story. The movie is set in two backdrops including a tribal village in the forest and a college in the city. Vijay Sethupathi plays the role of Yeman, the headman of the tribal community. But there is no mythological connection to his character name. The tribal village is located in Andhra Pradesh according to the story, but the people will be speaking in Tamil. Once you watch the film, you will understand the reason behind it. If you are wondering why the heroines are seen wearing opulent showpieces in promos, you will find the answer in the movie.” Vijay Sethupathi is currently part of a host of exciting projects such as Seethakathi (which marks his 25th project), Aaranya Kaandam fame director Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Super Deluxe, 96, where he co-stars with Trisha, Junga, the untitled Mani Ratnam multi-starrer and the magnum-opus Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, which marks his foray in Tollywood. Even while shooting for ONNPS, Vijay was shuttling between a handful of films. Asked if he had any hangover of his characters from other movies while shooting for ONNPS, Arumugakumar explains, “There was nothing like that, and that’s the beauty of his acting. Vijay has an uncanny ability to slip into his roles with effortless ease and ultimately transform into the particular character when the camera starts rolling. He even sets the mood perfectly for the entire cast too.” Arumugakumar says ONNPS is his new attempt in the comedy genre. “It’s neither an experimental film nor a regular comedy. We have tried concocting a variety of sub-genres in comedy to deliver a wholesome entertainer. The film’s backbone is the comedy, but the tracks will be sensible and not appear cliched. It’s going to be a multi-genre entertainer.” Produced by 7C Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Amma Narayana Productions, Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren also stars Gautham Karthik, Gayathrie, and Niharika Konidela, niece of Megastar Chiranjeevi, in prominent roles. The movie marks Niharika’s debut in the Tamil film industry. Talking about signing Gautham Karthik for the college-going youngster role, Arumugakumar says, “When we signed Gautham Karthik, he had no hits then. I had Gautham Karthik in my mind because that character is a happy-go-lucky college guy with absolutely no rigidness. Vijay Sethupathi and Gautham had a great camaraderie off the screen. Gautham adores Vijay Sethupathi, both as an actor and a human being. He enjoys watching him perform. And Vijay Sethupathi too likes Gautham very much. But in the film, Vijay Sethupathi hates Gautham at the very sight of him. During shooting, Vijay Sethupathi even apologised to Gautham for being harsh since the story demands it.” On a concluding note, Arumugakumar said the performances of his ensemble cast are the greatest strength of the film, which is all set to hit screens worldwide on 2 February. Justin Prabhakaran has composed the music for the project.