Rethika Srinivas, who made heads turn with her performances as the high school correspondent Jayalakshmi in Vazhakku Yen 18/9 and the caring ghost Padma in Suriya’s Masss, hopes to have similar impact with her role in Jayam Ravi’s latest release, Tik Tik Tik. She says she got the offer out of the blue.
“Director Shakthi asked if I was willing to play a Lieutenant in India’s first space film. I said yes without a second thought. It’s not every day that you get an offer to play in one of Tamil cinema’s pathbreaking films,” she says.
The actor, who also runs her own media company, feels that Tik Tik Tik is not a difficult movie to understand, “unlike Armageddon or Interstellar, as the audience can easily relate to what is happening on screen. The plot is simplified as it’s a film for all audiences.” Asked about the practical difficulties of shooting for the VFX portions of the film, she says, “Shakthi is very detailed about what he wants in a scene. Whenever I had to imagine certain things for a scene involving a green screen, he almost brought it in front of my eyes through his narration. This made things really easy for me.”
Rethika feels she is ready to accept any character as long as it leaves an impact. “What you see in Masss is not the same in Nimirndhu Nil and Vazhakku En 18/9. I try to do different genres and characters or at least sport a different look. As a theatre artiste, I feel I can blend in any kind of roles,” says the actor adding, “Since I’m fair complexioned, people feel that I can fit only in urban roles. Once they understand the reality that there are villagers who are fairer than me, things will change.”
The Nimirndhu Nil actor thinks that “anybody with a pen, paper and a camera can’t become a director. If at all I am going to direct a film, I will definitely work as an assistant director and learn the craft. Any task one does in life should have a strong foundation. I don’t want to have work done by a talented associate director and call it my film. Even though I have my own scripts, I don’t think I’m ready for filmmaking yet.”
The actor who will be seen in three untitled projects — two in Malayalam and one horror comedy in Tamil — believes every role to be special. “Even if I get featured only for three minutes, I want to contribute my fullest. I feel I’ve accomplished something as an actor everytime a director feels I can bring his character alive and do justice to it... As Shakti did with Tik Tik Tik.”