There's a saying in Tamil that goes, "Appan 8 adi paanja, pulla 16 adi paayudhu...' which essentially means that the achievement of the child surpasses the achievements of the parent. And that is exactly what actor Vikram would have wanted his son, Dhruv, to achieve. That is why, be it for Dhruv's debut, Adithya Varma, or his sophomore film, Mahaan, Vikram was there at every step of the way. From promotions to release, Vikram's shadow loomed large over Dhruv. But, for the latter's upcoming film, Bison, helmed by Mari Selvaraj, Vikram has taken a backseat.
But neither did the comparisons stop, nor did the questions about Vikram's influence over Dhruv. In a media interaction, ahead of the film's release on October 17, Dhruv was asked about his father's statements about how his son is a much better actor than him. "That's all just humility," said a visibly sheepish Dhruv, who revealed that Vikram always wanted his son to be more successful than him. "He just likes me a lot, and that's why he is saying all of this. From the day I was born, Appa wanted me to surpass his achievements."
Dhruv also let us in on a little family secret that reflected the kind of belief that Vikram had about his son's career trajectory. "Amma wanted to call me Akhil. But he wanted to name me Dhruv. It means the pole star, right? He knew that I would be an actor. I could have been anything else, but he had this steadfast dream. I don't know if I can satisfy him, but yeah," said Dhruv.
Addressing the kind of external comparisons coming his way, Dhruv simply said that he had the best seats in the house to understand what it means to take up a challenge and come out of it with their head held high. "After Appa's accident, the way he turned it around and made it this big in the industry is something extraordinary. No other challenge seemed bigger than that," said Dhruv.
Nevertheless, Dhruv is on the cusp of facing one of his biggest challenges... audience acceptance. Come October 17, Dhruv's Bison will present him to an audience that has only seen him in a remake and in a film starring his father. This is his own outing, which is mounted on the shoulders of Mari Selvaraj, and it would be interesting to see if Dhruv would chart his success story at a pace much faster than his own father, and Vikram can bask in the voices that go, 'pulla 16 adi paayudhu.'