Malayalam actor Jibin Gopinath of Dies Irae and the Mammootty-starrer Kalamkaval fame is the latest addition to join the cast of Vetri Maaran’s Arasan. The upcoming Tamil gangster drama, headlined by Silambarasan TR and featuring Vijay Sethupathi, is set within the filmmaker's Vada Chennai universe and is currently being shot in Chennai.
The opportunity, Jibin says, arrived quite unexpectedly. “I was in Trivandrum when Arasan's makeup artist Ranjith Ambady called about a Tamil film, but didn’t reveal any details. Almost immediately after, an associate director reached out… and when I asked who the director was, he said Vetri Maaran sir. I was genuinely stunned, and it felt so surreal. Landing a Vetri sir film is the kind of opportunity you don’t even dare to dream about,” he says. Within a week, everything moved quickly, and he found himself on set, still trying to take it all in. Jibin, who made a strong impression last year with his breakout portrayal of Madhusudhanan Potti in Pranav Mohanlal and Rahul Sadasivan’s 2025 horror thriller, describes his Tamil debut as a significant milestone.
Working with Vetri Maaran, one of Tamil cinema’s most acclaimed filmmakers, has been, in his words, a revelation. “Vetri sir has this incredible ability to make actors feel completely at ease. He explains every scene in detail, including what comes before and after, so you’re never left guessing,” he reflects. As this is his first Tamil film, the language posed an initial challenge. “I was a bit tense at the beginning… but the team was very supportive. They gave me enough time to learn the lines,” he says. A self-confessed admirer of the filmmaker, Jibin adds, “It’s honestly very hard to pick just one… from Polladhavan and Aadukalam to Vada Chennai and Visaranai, each film has left a strong impression on me,” when asked about his favourites from the director’s esteemed repertoire.
Interestingly, Jibin did ask the director how he was cast, more out of curiosity than anything else. The answer, he says, genuinely surprised him. “He told me he had seen Dies Irae and Kalamkaval… but what truly surprised me was that he had even noticed me in Kishkindha Kaandam,” he shares. While he remains tight-lipped about his role in Arasan, he does say it is “strong and important”. The project also sees him sharing screen space with major names, including Silambarasan, with whom he shot his very first scene. “That in itself was quite a moment for me,” he admits. Speaking about the experience, he adds, “He’s a brilliant actor and such a grounded person… There’s no starry air around him at all.” Jibin is also set to appear alongside Vijay Sethupathi, an actor he has long admired.
As fate would have it, the shoot of Arasan ran parallel to D 55, Amaran director Rajkumar Periasamy’s film with Dhanush and Mammootty. For Jibin, the overlap felt serendipitous. His earlier collaboration with Mammootty in Kannur Squad had already proven important, eventually leading to his role in Kalamkaval, which was secured through the veteran’s recommendation. “I went to meet Mammookka during a break… he introduced me so warmly to Dhanush, someone I’ve always been in awe of,” Jibin says, adding that Mammootty was among the first he informed after landing Arasan.