Actor, director, film producer and writer R Parthiepan, who has acted in more than 50 Tamil and a few Malayalam films, will now be debuting in Sandalwood. The film titled Dada is Back is directed by Santhosh of Gombegala Love fame. The 56-year-old actor had been evading Sandalwood for a long time even though there were several offers.
He says, “Firstly, there was the language problem. Secondly, I kept waiting for a good script, which I found in Santhosh’s film.”
According to the actor, who has more than a decade experience in South Indian cinema, he will be squeezing out time for Dada is Back while working in other films — a film with Suriya to be directed by Venkat Prabhu and another with Dhanush to be directed by Vetrimaaran. “Fortunately, the recent release of my directorial film Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam has been declared a hit and I have been bombarded with a lot of opportunities. So, when the young director Santosh came to me two months ago, I agreed to do his film. I would not like to go back on my word,” he says.
Parthiepan adds, “Santosh came up with a good narration, which is very important. I could relate myself to the story as a director. I heard from Santosh that there was a film done earlier titled Dada which starred Vishnuvardhan. I guess there is a certain charm in the title.” Ask him his favourites in Sandalwood, and he says he is a great fan of Kannada actor Upendra. He adds that he adores people who try something new irrespective of the language. “Upendra is one actor and director who has been doing things differently. Ravichandran too is a good friend of mine,” he says.
The success of his recent film Kathai... has fetched him a lot of offers but Parthiepan is not ready to direct another film soon. “Right now I am happy. A hit film gives a lot of energy but I will not fall for opportunities. My first film as a director was a hit and till date whichever films I have directed, the audience compare it to my first film. Now Kathai... has taken me back to my first film,” he says. Parthiepan adds that numbers or age does not matter to an actor’s debut. “Even though I have completed more than 50 films, I might consider that I have done only 10 good films. I don’t know whether I should say that I am just 10 films old or 50 films old,” the actor says.
