 "Velaikkaran star Sivakarthikeyan says Nayanthara has created space for women-centric films")
Ahead of the release of Velaikkaran on 22 December, actor Sivakarthikeyan paid a visit to Kochi on Monday to promote the film along with his co-star Fahadh Faasil, who is foraying into Tamil filmdom with the project.
At the press meet, both the actors opened up about the experience of sharing screen space and their working equation while heaping praise on each other. Siva even agreed that he has not bonded with any actor like he did with Fahadh, who plays his friend in the Mohan Raja directed film.
[caption id=“attachment_3985353” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Nayanthara and Sivakarthikeyan in a still from Velaikkaran. YouTube[/caption]
On working with Fahadh, with whom he has joined hands for the first time, Sivakarthikeyan said, “There was so much to learn from brother Fahadh. Most of you are aware of his work in Malayalam, but what you see in Velaikkaran will be in a different league altogether. Initially, I wondered how I would match up to his performance, but thanks to Raja for writing our characters in a way that I feel I have done justice to my role.”
When Fahadh was asked if he faced any pressure, given this is his Tamil debut, Sivakarthikeyan answered on his co-star’s behalf. “Even when he had to deliver eighth pages of dialogues at a stretch, he didn’t face any pressure at all.”
Fahadh said he had his set of challenges because he was thinking in a different language. “I could only think of the dialogues in English or Malayalam. I even conveyed this to my director but Raja reassured that it shouldn’t be a problem and that I should work on the film. Nevertheless, I enjoyed working on this project.”
On the experience of working with Nayanthara, who plays the leading lady in the film, both Siva and Fahadh showered lavish praise on her. “I only worked with her for two days. From what I gathered, I found her to be very professional. I think women are going to love her character.” Siva, on the other hand, was proud to have worked with her. “She has created space for women-centric films. So many young women who want to become actors look up to her. It was a great learning experience to work with her and Fahadh.”
When asked to comment about the culture of fan clubs in south, Siva said that they are important as they help to consolidate all his fans under one roof. “I take feedback from them when my films come out. A true fan would shape the career of his idol with constructive feedback.” Said Siva, who refused to shed light on whether Fahadh plays the antagonist in the film. Fahadh said that it is best if audience gets to learn more about his character in theatres. “Both our characters bring a different dimension to a blue-collar worker,” said Fahadh.
In Velaikkaran, Siva plays a worker and he said he has attempted something he has never done in his career. “I play a character called Arivu, a worker. Questions raised through my character will connect with everyone. It’s a serious film,” said Siva, who admitted to have approached Mohan Raja after watching Thani Oruvan. “For the first time in my career, I had approached a director with an interest to work together. When I met him, I told him I wanted to work on something that raises pertinent questions about our everyday life and that’s how Velaikkaran was born.”
Siva said he’s willing to work in a Malayalam film, provided he gets help from Fahadh. “Brother, you will take care of me, right,” Siva asked, leaving everyone in splits. On his successful partnership with composer Anirudh Ravichander, Siva said, “We are brothers who share mutual affection. What works for us is that I don’t restrict him when it composing songs or tunes. We use whatever he gives us and it has worked big time.”
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