VIP, written and directed in Tamil by debutante Velraj, a well-known face in Tamil cinema is the story of an unemployed engineering graduate and the following troubles. “The movie endorses a message – Follow your dreams. Be stubborn and do what you want to do and eventually you will make it,” says the 31-year-old actor. Happy and excited about VIP, as it is his 25th film, Dhanush, who also produced the film hopes that it will generate the same response as it did in Kollywood. The actor was in the city with Anirudh Ravichandran, the Kolaveri boy, who composed music for VIP.
About the Film
The subject of the film is something any youngster will connect with, especially engineering students That’s the reason why I went ahead and produced the film. The story is a mere observation. It was in 1999-2000 when engineering was most sought-after profession. Around 200 engineering colleges came out of nowhere. By the time we finished, engineering was gone and IT came in. So what about the future of all those engineering graduates? This happened all over the country and that’s what happens in VIP.
Starring opposite Amala Paul
“Just like they say that I’m a boy-next-door material, Amala is the girl-next-door type. We wanted someone like that and she fits the role perfectly. She literally plays the role of a girl-next-door in this film and she has done a fabulous job. She is very real in the film and she’s that kind of a girl you’ll often bump into in life. That’s her character.”
Why should we watch Raghuvaran Btech
There are a lot of entertaining factors in the film. Apart from that, every engineer and every student will relate a lot to this role. At least that’s the reaction we got from the Tamil audience, so I’m hoping it’ll be the same here too.
Sporting a six-pack
I started building up for the movie Polladhavan (2007) and I have been maintaining that. I worked really hard for two years to get that shape. It was tough because I’m not muscular. But since then I have been taking care.
Acting in Telugu
Language has never been a barrier for me. I take every film as another one. I would love to do a film in Telugu. Ranjhaana was big challenge for me because of the language and it came out really well. So if something interesting comes to me in Telugu also, I will definitely go for it. Building a market can only happen to you. So far nothing has worked out here for me, yet. So I have to wait for it to happen. I don’t think anyone can make it happen for me and I hope that it works for me. I have done my job and we have to wait and watch..
Upcoming Shamitabh and sharing screen with Big B
About the character, you have to wait and watch, I cannot speak about it now. He is extremely cool, jovial and friendly on the sets. He never intefered in my work space. He allowed me to do what I wanted to with my character. He was the perfect co-star and it was a great honour to work with him. It is another film with a legend and I didn’t feel intimidated at all. He made sure that I was comfortable.
Working with R Balki
There is nothing new that I can to say about him. He is a legend and people know about him. He is a great filmmaker, very different from any other. He knows what he wants and has a different way of capturing that. He communicates so easily and you won’t even realise you are doing what he wants you to do.
He doesn’t explain anything to you for a more than 30 or 40 seconds, but there is a kind of energy he gets into the actors. You won’t realise what you have done, until you watch it on the screen and that is his magic.
The only other director who could do that was Balu Mahendra.
Balki is also technically very sound and the way he captures emotions is unique. You have to watch the film to understand that. As a person he is very simple and humble. He treated me with so much respect and I am thankful I got this opportunity.
Working with Rajinikanth
I would love to and if an opportunity presents itself, I will definitely do it. I am a big fan of him and I watch all his films first day, first show. He watched VIP and he was very happy. He really liked the film. He was also a little concerned that my last few films didn’t do very well and he was glad that VIP worked out.
Being romantic on screen
I try to be natural with all the roles. I’m just as romantic as every other person in this world. Romance is one of the toughest things to do considering that 300 people are watching you.
Gauging a role
How much I can relate and connect to the character is what I look at when I see a script.
Expectations
I don’t see if a film can get back so many crores. If I like the character, I do it. My only priority is audience being satisfied. I try my level best to live up to their expectations. I work hard. Ranjhaana was critically acclaimed. I hope this film too is liked by critics and audience.
Another Kolaveri?
There is only one Kolaveri. That song justified the script and the characterisation. So, I don’t think we can have another Kolaveri.
