Actor Karthi, in a recent interview, revealed what his brother Suriya told him after watching Ponniyin Selvan.
Mani Ratnam’s much awaited historical drama, Ponniyin Selvan 2 hit the theatrical screens last week. Speaking about its star-studded cast, one of them is actor Karthi who essayed the role of Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, the prince of Vaanar clan. The actor received appreciation from every nook and corner for his impressive act.
Recently, in an interview with News18, Karthi spilled the beans about how his actor-brother Suriya reacted after watching him essay the role of Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan for the first time on the big screen. The Madras actor revealed that Suriya watched the Tamil version of the magnum opus with subtitles with his actress-wife Jyothika’s family. He shared that they saw the film in Mumbai in a theatre full of non-Tamil audience and were in awe of it.
Karthi told the portal, “Interestingly, my brother watched the film – the Tamil version with subtitles – with his in-laws in Bombay in a theatre full of non-Tamil speaking audience. All of them loved it. He was very proud of it. He said, ‘What Tamil cinema could achieve makes me very proud.’”
On being asked if his brother gave him any feedback, Karthi added, “He had some lovely things to say about the whole film. But he didn’t have any special words for me.”
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Interestingly, Karthi’s father, veteran actor Sivakumar was approached by legendary actor MGR to play the role of Arunmozhi Varman when he first announced the screen adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ novel in 1959. However, the film never happened. Even Kamal Haasan’s plans to make Ponniyin Selvan in 1989 had failed to materialise. Finally, it was Mani Ratnam who succeeded in bringing the cinematic adaptation of this book on screen.
Karthi told the publication that he feels fortunate to be able to be a part of the film, which the fraternity wanted to make for the longest time.
“All of us have received lots of appreciation for this film. It was written 70 years back and the fan following that each character in the film has, has made them almost like superstars. They have received love over generations. When the audience saw somebody bringing them alive onscreen for the first time, they were filled with a whole lot of excitement. They have always looked at actors from different generations playing these parts. And finally, we, from this generation, got to do them. And the audience fell in love with all the characters,” the Kaithi star told the portal.
Speaking about Karthi’s upcoming projects, the actor will next be seen in Rajkumar Periasamy’s upcoming heist thriller, Japan.
