Actor Karthi has revealed he initially hesitated to accept the lead role in the film โVaa Vaathiyarโ because he doubted his ability to impersonate the legendary MGR.
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Reflecting on his initial apprehension, Karthi admitted he is now surprised he had the courage to take on the monumental responsibility of portraying the icon.
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“Just thinking about it made me sleepless at nights. The thought that I might offend his hardcore fans by my acting made me scared. But then, I also know that growth comes when we face our fears. So, one day, I called Nalan (Kumarasamy) and said, ‘I am taking up your offer’,” said Karthi at the pre-release event on December 7.
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Karthi said it was partly because of Kumarasamy that he took on the “challenging role”.
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Accepting the role was the beginning of his journey into “understanding” the legend that MG Ramachandran was, said Karthi.
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The actor said he knew MGR was an eraโdefining figure in cinema and politics, but the unconditional bond between him and his fans, even decades after his death, gave him “goosebumps” and showed him how big a personality MGR actually was.
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“Every day we discovered something new about him. I literally got goosebumps at times when I heard the stories,” he said.
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Once they got a fair idea of the character of MGR, they worked for weeks on rehearsals, makeโup and costumes to get the body language and the look right without it becoming mere mimicry, the actor said.
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According to the cast and crew, โVaa Vaathiyarโ is about a funโloving, ruleโbending cop, who was raised by his MGR-obsessed grandfather almost like MGR. The counterpoint comes when grandsonโs choices clash with the grandfatherโs idealised MGR image.
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โVaa Vaathiyarโ, second full-length feature film by Kumarasamy, is slated for December 12 release. The film also stars newcomer Krithi Shetty as the female lead. Music is by Santhosh Narayanan.