There is a pair of newcomers in director Gandhi Krishna’s next film, 'Ananda Thandavam'. But no, it’s not the hero and heroine we are talking about, but the hero and the villain instead. Expresso finds out more about the duo who will be debuting with this film.
Rishi is a Chennai born TV and theatre artiste who plays the villain in the film, an adaptation of Sujatha’s 'Pirivom Sandipom'. As you talk to him you can’t help but notice a bald patch right on top of his head. Ask him about it and he says, “That’s a bald patch created by shaving off my hair for the character that I play in the film.” He plays a 33-year-old Manhattan based millionaire. Just as you are getting over that, he shows you a receding hairline that was created courtesy a razor, to lend more authenticity to his character. Now you understand the dedication of the guy who gave up engineering to for an acting career. After amateur theatre with the Madras Players and Thespian En he acted in TV soaps like 'Idhu Oru Kadhal Kadai'. “I also anchored shows like EQ2 and Ms Chennai and Chennai Man,” he informs us.
Rishi is ecstatic about the character he is playing. “Its considered one of the best characters of novelist Sujatha. I am really grateful to producers Aascar Films and director Gandhi Krishna,” he beams. Rishi is open to playing negative roles or any other character in films as long as he can identify with it.
Sidharth, the hero of the film, plays the soft and innocent hero opposite the bubbly character played by Tamanna. Educated in Coimbatore and Hyderabad, this Tamilian boy was a software engineer who graduated from Anna University. He also worked in Accenture before films happened. “I did modelling in my school and college days and was passionate about acting,” he recounts. It was the Alchemy acting workshop that gave him a leg up in the media and he got ads like Tibre, Volume Zero and others. “Someone saw one of these ads and recommended my name to director Gandhi Krishna,” says an ecstatic Sidharth.
The film was shot in Tenkasi and New York and Sidharth is grateful for Tamanna’s support throughout. “She never made me feel that I was a newcomer and would always give me pep talk,” he smiles. Siddharth is delighted that he is part of such a project with Aascar Films and hopes to go places in future. Now lets wait and see what footprints the two new actors leave in Kollywood.
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