Arvind Swamy is tall and unassuming. And very pink cheeked. Clad in a simple jeans and a T-shirt, he waits patiently for this reporter to stop staring at him and ask a question. When the question eventually comes — Why such a long break? — he breaks into a wide, sunny smile. “I didn’t plan for it to be this long actually. I started out very young with Thalapathi and Roja, so I thought 30 would be a good time to take a slight detour, go do other things I wanted to do and experience life in a different perspective. Unfortunately, five, six years down the line, I had a small accident, where I injured my spine and was bedridden for a year. It took me a long time to get into rehab and come out of it,” he says.
During his ‘slight detour’, when Swamy was not buried in office files from his firm, he was busy raising kids. “Raising kids is a full time job!” he laughs. “The kids were at a critical age; they were growing up and it was important for me to be around. So my primary focus all these years have been my children,” he explains.
Swamy’s eldest, his daughter, is in high school, while his son is in the seventh grade. Devoted dad that he is, he not only paints with his kids but also cooks with them — a hobby that’s branched out into a full-time passion.” Cooking is a part of my every day life,” he explains. “I love to cook South Indian food – mum has some secret recipes from before that we cook together. But the kids like more continental cuisine. Cooking relaxes me,” he says.
So it was no wonder that Swamy needed to be coaxed out of his domestic bliss and into acting. Kadal director Mani Ratnam, with whom Swamy has worked together on numerous occasions before, took time out to convince him that he needed to be in front of the camera again. “And honestly, it was the character I play in the movie that ended up convincing me. There are so many changes in the character’s mindset, the situations and the drama that go on, and the challenges that he faces are constantly evolving in the movie. It was actually a very complex role with so many layers in it. So it was good role to come back to,” he explains.
But he quickly adds, “ the character – he could be a priest, he need not be a priest — you have to figure that out.”
But what after Kadal? “Oh, I’m just looking to go back to the office and bury myself in documents and files again,” jokes the actor. “But seriously, I have plans at work that I need to execute and maybe by June-July I could start my next project. I’m working on something, as soon as it crystalises I’ll launch that,” he signs off.