Suriya, who is awaiting the release of C3, says Durai Singam is perhaps a character closest to his heart. In Kerala to promote the third installment of Singam franchise, the actor talked about how the film was inspired by real police officers. “I find them very selfless, they hardly get any holidays and work during all the major festivals. I have great respect for them and they are the real inspiration for Singam franchise.” The actor addshe enjoys playing the super-cop, “after C3 I feel like a part of the department,” he says.
Durai Singam, his character with signature mustache and fiery one-liners, seems to be on a very different mission this time.
“He started off as a village cop who is very attached to his family. He used to be an officer who is not willing to ditch his personal life for the department. But, when we come to the third film, he is more mature and there are more challenges for him to handle in S3,” he says.
Quizzed on the expanding market of Tamil films in Kerala, the actor says Kerala is a place where Tamil films are accepted as they are. “We have to dub our films in Telugu but there is no need for that here in Kerala. At the same time I think nobody can take over the market here, especially when you have such great talents here.” The actor said he is aware of the affection showered on him by the people of Kerala and also recounted how some portions of his debut film Nerruku Ner was shot in Thiruvananthapuram. “I think it was at Holy Angels School and I still remember shooting with Vijay and Vasanth sir here.”
Suriya says he has immense respect for Malayalam industry and he has been following the wonderful work happening here for the past few years. He also pointed out how Malayalam stars are more popular these days. “At a recent award function my sister wanted to take a picture with Nivin Pauly. So I went and asked him if we could take a picture with him,” he says.
On why he is not considering Malayalam projects, the actor says, “there is a change in sensibility when it comes to different states. If I do a Malayalam film I will have to do it as a Malayalam only. I might not be able to take it to Tamil or Telugu audience. Or you will have to compromise the script. So I have to consciously restrict myself as I can do a Malayalam film only within that logistics.”