CHENNAI: There’s got to be a whole lot of pressure on you when people are talking about your films scoring a double hat-trick (six straight hits, if you’re not a cricket fan). Sivakarthikeyan agrees. Except, he’s far from letting it show. ‘It’s there’, he assures us, before bursting out laughing.
His car may have gotten fancier and plenty of producers may be queuing up to sign him on for his bankability, but you can still see plenty of the whimsical, wise-cracking stand up comic who wowed us on TV. Excerpts from a conversation, just as Kaaki Sattai has begun steamrolling audiences in cinemas:
How different has Kaaki Sattai been for you?
This is different for me, so when I look at how it has turned out, I feel happy that I attempted playing a cop. Policemen will feel happy when they see it.
What was it like wearing the uniform for the first time?
There’s a contradiction in this film. Though it is titled Kaaki Sattai, it’s only in a few places that I wear the uniform. I’m a cop working with the crime branch, so we decided that I wouldn’t be one of those cops with a close crop cut and always in uniform.
So it’s not just a different haircut then?
It’s funny you should ask. Other than Maan Karate and Kaaki Sattai, my get up in all the films has been the same. In fact, when I signed Rajini Murugan, the director specified that he wanted my old ‘signature’ style. He even asked me to lose weight for it.
Sticking to the stereotype? Why not something dark, like a Gautham Menon cop?
I do think about doing different characters sometimes, but a completely dark role in which I completely change what I am doing now isn’t something that I think will happen. There’s a lot more that I have to do in this phase. I’ve just gone from a carefree, young boy to a man who takes his work seriously. After some time, I will do a role like that in my career.
People do love you for your light comedy. Can you imagine a film without it?
I don’t think I can do a whole film without comedy. Not for a while. Even in Kaaki Sattai, there are lots of comedy sequences in the first half which have been written so that people’s expectations are satisfied.
Are you glued to Twitter on release day?
The only things I listen to when a movie releases are what the audience thinks and how good its business is. That’s the only factor that will carry me for the next film, whether or not my producers make a profit. After all, not every film will be a great success. My only aim is to ensure that when a producer puts some money into a film of mine, he or she should be able to make at least a little bit more than that.
Making money off every film is tough
Already, there’s a lot of pressure, because of the reach that my films have had in the last three years. That’s why I am not doing too many films after I have gained a market.
Shooting non-stop must be tough for a new dad like you
I still don’t know what film I am doing after Rajini Murugan! I am doing only one film at a time. So when I shoot 40 days, I get 20 days off and during that time, I am always at home. So it’s easy to spend time for now. It’ll be difficult in a while, because she is just beginning to miss me now!
They say that you come up with most of your funny lines. Is there a script-writer inside of you?
I used to write a lot, when I was doing TV. But I can’t do a screenplay to save my life. I can write a few comic dialogues spontaneously when doing scenes.
The AIB Roast aside, stand up comedy is becoming big in India. Does it still call to you?
I never used to prepare for my stand-up. It all depended on the audience, and I really enjoyed it. But I am slightly out of that mode now. Doing stand-up comedy is big business abroad, but if that infrastructure gets here after a while and if I am in the mood, I’ll definitely do it.