Vijay Sethupathi denies he is doing 'just a cameo' in Mani Ratnam's next multi-starrer

Maverick director Mani Ratnam has pulled off casting coup of sorts for his upcoming film. Earlier, in an official announcement, Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies confirmed that they have roped in Jyothika, STR aka Simbu, Malayalam actor Fahad Faasil, Arvind Swamy, Vijay Sethupathi and Aishwarya Rajesh for the film. [caption id=“attachment_4292427” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Vijay Sethupathi in a still from Vikram Vedha. YouTube[/caption] Sources say that Ratnam organised a workshop to his actors in Chennai and gave a detailed narration to them. Simbu, who was believed to be a lethargic actor in the industry walked the extra mile and attended the workshop, he is also said to be shedding nearly 10 kilos for the film. Madras Talkies also confirmed the technical crew— AR Rahman will compose the music, National Award winning editor Sreekar Prasad and cinematographer Santhosh Sivan are also on board for the film. Ratnam’s previous romantic action drama _Kaatru Veliyidai_ was a disaster at the box office and critics had also ripped apart the film but we have a good news for the director’s fans.“The new multi-starrer film will be a surprise for the audiences, the treatment will be completely different from Mani sir’s previous films. All the actors have an equal scope, they are excited and getting themselves ready for the shoot”, said a source close to the director. Various media reports suggested that Vijay Sethupathi only plays a cameo in the film. “Mani sir’s film is a dream for many actors and I’m not an exception. Heard from a lot of people that my role in the film is a cameo but that’s not true. I will come throughout the film. It will be a unique character”, said Vijay Sethupathi in a recent media interaction and clarified about his characterization in the multi-starrer, which will start rolling from this month. In 2017, Sethupathi had four releases including Kavan, Vikram Vedha , Karuppan and Puriyaatha Puthir but 2018 will be even more special for him. The versatile actor has eight films in the pipeline for this year. Sethupathi plays a comic gangster in Junga. He will be seen as a transgender named Shilpa in National Award winning director Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Super Deluxe.  In Seethakathi, Sethupathi plays a drama artist and in Oru Nalla Paathu Solren, he will be seen as a notorious thief. Besides these four films, Sethupathi has a feel-good drama 96 with Trisha and will make his Telugu debut in Chiranjeevi’s historic period film _Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy_ . Sources say that Sethupathi’s character name in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy is Obayya, a close aide to Chiranjeevi in the film. The characterization of Obayya is said to be on par with Kattapa in Baahubali and for the first time, Vijay Sethupathi will share screen space with Indian cinema legends like Amitabh Bachchan and Chiranjeevi in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. Vijay Sethupathi also completed shooting for his special cameo portion in Nayanthara’s Imaikkaa Nodigal. The action thriller also has Anurag Kashyap in a pivotal character.