‘When I Heard The Story, I Was Shaken’

‘How
could
anyone
do
this
to
a
child?’
‘And
how
can
a
father
cope
with
such
a
trauma?’
‘But
then
we
actors
have
to
rise
above
personal
emotions.’

Vijay
Sethupathi
perfects
yet
another
performance
in
Nithilan
Swaminathan’s
Tamil
hit



Maharaja.

He
plays
a
father,
whose
daughter
goes
missing,
but
he
refuses
to
grieve
until
justice
is
served.

Vijay
is
overjoyed
by
the
film’s
success.

“My
first
Rs
100
crore
(Rs
1
billion)
film,”
he
announces
to

Subhash
K
Jha.

“See,
every
film
I
choose
like
that
(to
be
a
success).
Some
films
become
a
hit,
some
films
connect,
some
emotions
connect.

“We
choose
films
with
so
much
passion
and
do
them
with
so
much
effort.
When
this
subject
came
to
me,
I
loved
it.
I
loved
the
non-linear
writing
because
it
was
a
surprise
for
me.
The
director
said,
listen
to
the
script
fully,
only
then
you
will
enjoy
it.
So
I
sat
and
listened
to
the
whole
story.”

Vijay
was
hesitant
about
accepting

Maharaja
as
he
had
already
committed
himself
to
another
project
with
a
similar
subject.

“I
told
Nithilan
I
had
already
given
my
word
to
another
director.
I
said,
let
me
check
whether
he’s
making
that
film.
If
he
is,
I
can’t
do
this
film.
But
that
director
said
he
wasn’t
going
to
do
the
film.

“We
wanted
to
tell
an
interesting
story
with
politically
correct
ethics.
I
am
not
expecting
many
films
like

Maharaja
though
such
films
should
happen
more
often.
They
are
a
reflection
of
society
in
the
truest
and
rawest
sense,”
he
says.

Vijay
admits
he
was
disturbed
about
the
theme
of
child
rape.

“When
I
heard
the
story,
I
was
shaken.
How
could
anyone
do
this
to
a
child?
And
how
can
a
father
cope
with
such
a
trauma?
But
then
we
actors
have
to
rise
above
personal
emotions.

“We
try
to
understand
what
the
emotions
are,
and
then
we
do
it.
How
do
I
communicate
it?
With
expression
and
silence.
I
have
always
believed
that
an
actor’s
silence
speaks
louder
than
his
words.
At
least
that’s
true
of
me.
I
feel
words
come
in
the
way
of
expressing
feelings.
I
am
at
my
most
expressive
when
I
am
not
speaking.

“Actually,
when
I
was
telling
the
story
to
the
cops
for
the
third
time,
I
break
down.
The
first
two
times,
I
don’t
lose
control.
But
during
the
third
time,
I
get
that
image.
The
tears
were
real.
This
should
not
happen
to
anyone.”

Vijay
is
all
praise
for
Anurag
Kashyap,
who
plays
the
antagonist.

“He
did
a
great
job!
He
actually
got
injured
when
he
fell
down
the
stairs
in
the
climax.

“He
said,
because
of
his
fall,
he
could
use
only
one
hand,
otherwise
he
would
have
used
both.
Because
he’s
a
director,
he
understands
these
things.
That
approach
is
a
great
thing.

“And
then,
in
the
last
minute,
he
came
up
with
the
dialogue
because
he
kept
changing
it.
He
always
rewrites.
He
didn’t
understand
the
dialogues
in
Tamil,
and
I
tried
to
help.”

Vijay
admits
he
feels
a
similar
disadvantage
when
he
says
Hindi
dialogues.

“Only
if
I
read
my
Hindi
dialogues
100-200
times,
I
get
that
breath
pattern
that
I
do
when
I
speak
in
my
native
tongue.

“Anurag
kept
changing
the
words
to
get
the
emotion
of
the
scene.
Being
a
director,
he
could
understand
the
script
better
than
an
actor
like
me.

“What
happened
was,
Anurag
was
to
fall
down
the
stairs.
But
Nithilan
asked
him
not
to
because
he
respected
Anurag
sir
so
much.
But
Anurag
insisted
on
doing
a
real
fall.

“Anurag
was
very
sincere.
Not
only
him,
everybody
around
me.
When
we
are
in
the
frame,
we
have
to
cooperate
with
our
co-actors
or
else
the
energy
and
timing
won’t
match.”

Maharaja,
says
Vijay,
got
a
delayed
release.
“We
completed

Maharaja
last
November.
It
got
delayed
because
of
the
elections.
And
then,
we
couldn’t
release
it
with

Kalki.
We
have
been
waiting
for
four
months
to
release.”

Vijay
Sethupathi
will
be
seen
next
in

Viduthalai
Part
2.

“Viduthalai
means
freedom.
We
are
releasing
it
October-November,”
he
says.