2025 has been a satisfying year for actor Siddhartha Shankar, who portrayed important roles in Nilavuku Enmel Enadi Kobam, Param Sundari, and Madharaasi, and managed to deliver three distinct performances. Citing Kolai (2023) as the ticket that got him into the purview of Madharaasi director AR Murugadoss, Siddhartha says, "I play someone who lost his family to the gun culture in Bihar, and I take it as a personal agenda to not allow it to percolate in Tamil Nadu." Although it is a supporting role, Siddhartha's character has parallels with the protagonist Raghu, played by Sivakarthikeyan. "Exactly. It isn't easy to have so many well-fleshed characters in a huge actioner. But Murugadoss sir does it. This is true not just with my character and Raghu. There is an emotional bonding between Biju sir and Vikranth sir, Vidyut sir and Shabeer sir."

Madharaasi moves from one action set piece to another, with Siddhartha's PC 2 mostly lurking in the periphery of the action since he plays a spy. "As a trained actor, I make sure that I contribute to the story in whichever way possible. The brief that Murugadoss sir gave is that I play someone who has nothing to lose. PC 2 operates in the fringes and works towards stopping guns from entering Chennai, but when it is necessary, he needs to kill and prepare himself to get killed like it's his second nature," says Siddhartha.

In stark contrast, he took on a lighter role in Param Sundari, which marked his Hindi debut. Siddhartha disagrees that shuttling between industries will reduce the chances of an actor getting noticed by a particular audience. "Now, all the industries are converging, and the Indian film industry is coming together to make films. Actors like Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupathi are a part of multiple industries. Honestly, in the current scenario, I don't think focusing on just one industry will take you to the next level," says the actor, who also understands that such convergence, when it misses the train of authenticity, receives instant backlash. "Every culture should be portrayed with authenticity. But with Param Sundari, the negativity got more traction. There are always two sides to a coin. The film was also equally praised for bringing cultures together," points out Siddhartha.

Apart from being open to switching between industries, Siddhartha is also clear about wanting to play dynamic and different roles. "I would never want to be a safe actor. Earlier, I jumped into the deep end of cinema before learning to swim. My roles in Saithan and Sathya were an experiment. As an actor, my job is to primarily tell interesting stories to people. That doesn't mean I am not aware of what the mainstream audience expect out of today's films," says Siddhartha, who reveals his inspiration behind wanting to walk the thin line between experiments and mainstream films. "Kamal sir and Dhanush sir have been successful in this balancing act. I hope my attempts to emulate this balance will also be successful," he signs off.