Atharvaa is a self-confessed adrenaline junkie and is considered to be a darling of stunt choreographers. So, naturally, we expect him to switch to action mode when he dons the khaki. However, his recent web series debut Mathagam, directed by Prasath Murugesan of Kidari and Queen fame, belongs to a different shade of khaki. One that demanded him to ease his muscles and flex his brain instead. “Rather than an adrenaline rush, I had creative sparks while shooting for Mathagam. I had a lot of questions running in my mind before every shot on how to do justice to my role, and every single time I got it right, there was a sense of accomplishment,” says Atharvaa, who adds the disclaimer that the action genre fans will have a lot to like in the season 2 of Mathagam.
Manikandan’s Padalam Sekar is pitted against Atharvaa’s DCP Ashwath in Mathagam, and both characters have strongly written arcs in the series. Though Atharvaa has acted in similar dual lead films like Gaddalakonda Ganesh and Thunindha Pin, which showcase the journeys of the straight arrows and the rebels, it is interesting how the actor has always played the good guy. Does the dark side not entice him, especially with the scope for performance? “Yes, I have often contemplated shifting to the other side of the spectrum. But I wanted to play DCP Ashwath as the series doesn’t paint him as a caricature.
He is vulnerable despite his strengths and he makes mistakes too. I believe it is the closest one could get to playing a realistic cop. The biggest plus of Mathagam is its ability to put the audience in different shoes and make them root for every character on screen. For instance, I subconsciously started liking Padalam Sekar while dubbing for the series, even though I have played his nemesis,” he says, going on to reveal that his ‘Mr Clean’ streak is getting broken with his upcoming film with director Jeeva Shankar. “I play dual roles in the film and one has solid grey shades.
I had my doubts when I signed it, but once we started shooting for the film I fell in love with the character.” Apart from the challenge of portraying two drastically different roles, he also had to cope with the changing weather conditions. “We are shooting for the film in Rameswaram and during the second schedule, we had to shoot amidst high tides at night without the support of a green screen. Though it was quite risky, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. It put me through an unexplainable range of emotions. It is instances like this that make me feel extremely gifted to be an actor.”
Though there were reviews stating that the core of Mathagam is better suited for a feature film, Atharvaa states that Prasath was fixated on making it as a web series. “The journey of Mathagam started in 2018, way before the OTT boom. Even back then Prasath pitched the story to me as a web series. If he had to rewrite it as a theatrical release, he would have been forced to add elements that don’t align with the world and vision of Mathagam. We didn’t want that,” says Atharvaa, going on to share an incident from his teenage years that made him understand the impact of stardom on a theatrical release.
“I caught the first show of Rajini sir’s Sivaji as a fresh-out-of-school teenager. I thought it was a fantastic film even though I didn’t hear a single dialogue. Though I had absolute fun celebrating my superstar, I hadn’t relished the other aspects of the film enough. That is the power of the theatre. However, with OTT releases, people wish to see characters rather than stars.”
Atharvaa is an avid consumer of content from across the world, which helps him keep abreast of the evolving tastes and sensibilities of the audience. But does it ever get overwhelming as there is an ocean of content out there, and it is just not possible to consume it all? “I have started to focus on the audience in me now and listen to his likes and dislikes. Over the years, I have realised that rooted content that stays true to the world it creates always clicks with a wider audience. Mirzapur, for instance, is one such series. I am so intrigued by its narrative. I am eager to explore that world even more. I believe all that the audience expects from us is honest content that leaves no room for distraction.”
In our previous interaction, Atharvaa had mentioned about his dream biopic of an icon, which was in the early stages of discussions. When asked about the status of the film, he says, “It is still in the scripting stage. But I have started prepping for the role from my end. I am positive that it will get materialised soon. If I had to borrow a line from Ashwath,I would say, ’Soozhnilai maaruna mudivugalai mathikalam’.”