Actor Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, who was last seen in Blue Star alongside Ashok Selvan, is currently gearing up for the release of his sophomore Malayalam film, Balti. The film, which marks the directorial debut of Unni Sivalingam, also marks Shane Nigam's 25th film. Shanthnu will be seen as Shane's friend in the film. The film is slated to hit theatres on September 26.

In a recent interview with Galatta Plus, promoting Balti, Shanthnu opened up about his gravitation towards more serious supporting roles and why he's been doing only selective films for a while. Going back to his debut, the actor recalled, "I am always just Shanthnu now. But when I did Sakkarakatti, I was introduced as Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Bhagyaraj’s son. I got my debut opportunity only because of him. I cannot claim that Thanu sir gave me that chance because he liked my dance or performance."

Shanthnu did not expect his debut to disappoint the audience. "A few leading producers had even signed me up before Sakkarakatti’s release. But when the film failed, they all backed out. My father wanted to help me by doing something, but even his efforts didn’t work out. Siddhu +2 also didn’t meet expectations. Within two to three years, I realised I was going wrong somewhere, but by then, I was already slipping. My market had disappeared, and I couldn’t get solid scripts or characters," the actor divulges candidly.

That's when Shanthnu decided to take inspiration from other successful actors in the industry. He shared, "That’s when I started self-analysing. I looked at actors like Vijay Sethupathi, Manikandan, Sivakarthikeyan, and many others. Vijay Sethupathi, for instance, began with uncredited roles, just standing in the background, waiting for one line. When he got it, he moved towards strong character roles. His growth was gradual, but it allowed him to learn from the basics." He added, "I realised I had missed that learning phase in my career."

On his choice of roles now, he explained, "So, I decided to take up characters that truly connect with the audience. Instead of elite, chocolate-boy roles, I wanted to do something more relatable. That’s why I was super thrilled to play a role in Sudha Kongara’s Thangam from Paava Kadhaigal. I decided that even if it’s not the lead role, if it makes an impact, I should take it. After all, many of today’s heroes became who they are because they didn’t shy away from strong supporting characters."

Apart from Balti, Shanthnu also has Magenta and The Madras Mystery: Fall of a Superstar in the pipeline. He also has a multi-starrer helmed by Thiru in which he stars alongside Jai, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, and Vani Bhojan.