Chekka Chivantha Vaanam star Arun Vijay on his character Thyagu and working with Mani Ratnam

Arun Vijay is one of the actors in Kollywood on whom lady luck has shined after years of struggle. He is the son of popular character actor Vijayakumar and made his debut with Sundar C’s Murai Maapillai (1995) when he was just 18. Initially he featured in low-budget masala entertainers, before graduating into formulaic solo hero action movies. However it was new age director Magizh Thirumeni’s super hit thriller Thadaiyara Thakka (2012) which gave him a fresh new image followed by playing villain in Ajith’s Gautham Menon-directed Yennai Arindhaal (2015). His last release Kuttram 23 (2017) a hit medical thriller finally established him as a saleable star. Now all eyes are on his new Mani Ratnam multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (CCV), releasing on 27 September. The actor opened up to Firstpost in an exclusive interview. [caption id=“attachment_5259171” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Arun Vijay in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Image via Twitter[/caption] The first and second trailers for Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam has gone viral. And your character Thyagu is said to be one of the highlights of the multi-starrer.  Yes, Thyagu of CCV is one of the most impressive characters I have done so far. My character is emotionally-driven with different shades and there is a transformation that happens which I cannot explain at the moment. Is it true way back in 2000, you were supposed to do _Alayaipayuth_ey with Mani Ratnam? I met Mani sir after he finalised Maddy (Madhavan) for the role. At that time, he told me we will work sometime in the future and now 18 years later, I did his CCV. How did you agree to do a multi-starrer when you were doing solo hero films? CCV has the biggest star cast in recent times. I had a great time working with Aravind Swamy, Simbu, Vijay Sethupathi, Prakash Raj sir and others in the film. All of us knew our roles well as Mani sir had discussed everything in detail and we bonded well on the sets. Mani sir is a man of few words. Did he say something positive about your performance in CCV? [caption id=“attachment_5259181” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Arun Vijay (R) with Mani Ratnam on the set of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. Image via Facebook[/caption] It was a pleasure working with Mani Ratnam, and if you do a good shot, you can see the sparkle in his eyes. However, I received a compliment from him in the crucial gate opening scene (in the trailer 2), which is also a sort of transformation taking place within the character. His exact words were – “Arun, you got into the character.” It was a wonderful feeling to be praised by Mani sir. You have been paired opposite Aishwarya Rajesh in CCV. How was it working with her in the film? Aishwarya is an actress of substance. She plays a bold and strong Tamil girl from Sri Lanka and Mani sir had even a trainer for her accent during the dubbing. What’s next for Arun Vijay? My next release would be Thadam with Magizh Thirumeni, who gave me the memorable Thadaiyara Thaakka. It is a modern thriller with lots of twists. I heard you are playing the antagonist opposite Prabhas in Saaho? I’m not allowed to speak about the film as release is still a few months away. All that I can say is that it is a very exciting project in which I have an important role. Your recent 8-pack abs pic which you posted on the social media is getting a lot ‘wow’ reactions. I think that I was one of the first people in Kollywood who was a fitness freak. I knock off all the anger and frustration in me by hitting the gym regularly. The pictures that I recently posted are for getting into shape for a big film that I will be doing shortly.