At a seminal point in actor Yashwanth's life, he had two choices laid before him — Attend his college graduation ceremony or attend Prime Video's Vadhandhi Season 2 event in Mumbai. No prizes for guessing Yashwanth's choice. "I was surrounded by stars like Sasikumar sir, Dulquer Salmaan, Hrithik Roshan, Karan Johar, and Salman Khan, and many more. It was euphoric," recalls Yashwanth, who still had a college connection that evening. Vadhandhi's creative producers, Pushkar and Gayatri, were his college alumni.

The second season of the series created by Andrew Louis, titled Vadhandhi: The Mystery of Mani, features Yashwanth in the titular role. Interestingly, becoming Mani had its own mystery for the young actor. "Initially, I auditioned for the role of Mani's friend, Prabha. I got four pages of dialogues, and I improvised so much that they wanted me to audition for Mani, as well. But it was only half a page of lines, and I was heartbroken thinking it was a smaller character. Later, when I was told I was playing Mani, I was dejected. But when Andrew sir pointed out that Mani was the titular character, my confidence and energy surged right up," says an upbeat Yashwanth.

While the challenge was quite compelling, Yashwanth wanted to ensure that his lack of experience was never seen as a problem by anyone. It also helped that he could tap into his Madurai roots while playing the character, especially since the makers entrusted him with the responsibility of altering Mani's dialogues to reflect the dialect. "As an actor, this process helped me to learn an important aspect of acting, especially for OTT.  The production team pointed out that Vadhandhi 2 will reach every corner of the world, and resorting to a neutral version was preferred to being heavy on a particular accent," says the young actor, who also got a technical masterclass so early in his career, courtesy of the series being shot in live sound. "Not only did I have to be prepared to the fullest for every scene, the live-sound format also led to more one-shot sequences. Apart from this, I also got to work with performers like Sasikumar sir and Vivek Prasanna," says Yashwanth.

In fact, Vadhandhi 2 was a reunion of sorts for Yashwanth, who had previously worked with Sasikumar in the Jio Hotstar sports drama, Nadu Center (2025). "Working with him was a very lucky opportunity, especially since he inspires me to own my Madurai roots," says Yashwanth, whose Madurai connect allowed him to not just own the character of Mani, but also expand his skillset. Apart from the dialect, he was also given the space to bring in a lot of Madurai flavor to the sets. "I was able to give some suggestions for a lot of attributes that the Madurai setting came with. For example, I could use the bell of a cow as Mani's keychain, or bring in the right kind of rope that is used to hold the cows, paste some specific stickers on bikes, and even select the right kind of sacred threads to be worn by Mani."

Vadhandhi has also dealt with sensitive subjects that have prompted multiple conversations since its release last Friday. "There are a lot of people who might not be exposed to a lot of topics. But that doesn't mean those topics aren't already explored in their areas," says Yashwanth, adding, "Cinema is a democratic medium where various opinions thrive. If a person is forming an opinion on an issue, and that doesn't hurt anyone else, we can't ask them to not have that opinion because it is like we are infringing on their personal choice."

For Yashwanth, the cinematic dream isn't just his, but also the aspirations and beliefs of his family. "My mother gave me the much-needed focus that I carry for life. My father is a hard worker who faces a lot of stress, and cinema is his only source of entertainment. Being in this field and giving them the happiness they deserve is the biggest dream," signs off a hopeful Yashwanth.