Ganesh Venkatraman, who’s awaiting the release of and 7 Naatkal, understands that an actor is only as good as his last film. That’s why he says he tries to better himself with every project. “I try to pick scripts that are interesting.
I think cinema should be a reflection of what’s happening in society, which is why I am looking forward to the release of Inayathalam, in which I play the role of a special investigator,” he says.
He elaborates about the film: “It is about a cyber-cell team that cracks a complicated case. Cyber crime is on the rise with all the advancement in technology. For instance, when there’s an open WiFi network, we use it without a second thought.
Only after I got on board for this film did I get to know how risky that is. Not many know that using public WiFi can cause a huge threat to private details.”
In 7 Naatkal, the actor will sport a salt-and-pepper look. “It’s a different character and I play Prabhu sir’s adopted son,” he says.
Ganesh is also excited about his Bollywood debut, Guns Of Banaras, the official Hindi remake of Polladhavan. “I play the role, which was essayed by Daniel Balaji in the original. The script has been tweaked to match the sensibilities of the Hindi audience. I’d say this is my best performance till date. I had to get a tan, grow a beard, and get a tattoo of an aghori Baba on my arms. There’s also a scar across my cheeks to hide my dimples,” he smiles.
When the director Shekhar Suri told him about his character, Ganesh knew he wanted to do it. “I haven’t played a rugged gangster like this before. But what’s more challenging was speaking Hindi in the UP slang.” Incidentally, Guns Of Banaras was the last film of the late Vinod Khanna. “I think I am quite fortunate to have bagged it. He and I had conversations about Chennai, Varanasi and cinema in general. He also shared his memories about the city with me,” he tells us.