It has been a while since Vaibhav starred as a solo hero. He was part of an ensemble cast in both Venkat Prabhu's Chennai 600028 II and Arun Vaidyanathan's Nibunan, and there's been a lull since. "The gap wasn't planned, but I have been on the lookout for the right script and role. I'll make sure such a delay doesn't happen again," he says, and as evidence of this reveals that he has already signed three solo hero films, apart from RK Nagar that is bankrolled by Venkat Prabhu.
Among the first questions he asks when he's offered a role are if it is novel enough, and if he can do justice to it. "I get action scripts from directors who try to lure me by saying 'next level polam vaanga', but I don't think I'm ready to make that leap yet. Due to my performance in the Chennai 28 sequel, I also got offered a lot of village-based scripts, but I've said no to them," he says.
There's been a lot of buzz about one of his upcoming films, Meyaadha Maan, which has been dubbed by the makers as 'Royapurathu La La Land'. "It's a pucca fun film," he says. "I've tried humour in films like Kappal, of course, but here, the comedy is well-integrated into the story. The film also gave me a lot of scope for performance." Vaibhav believes it to also be a good love story. "My character in the name is named Idhayam Murali, as an ode to actor Murali's iconic film, Idhayam, in which his character waits years without ever professing his love to the heroine," he says. "Generally, when a guy doesn't express his love to the girl, those around him make fun of him by calling him Idhayam Murali." He sports a beard in this film and Vaibhav explains, "As you can imagine, things don't go as per plans for him (laughs)."
Much before the trailer released, the film's first single, Thangachi Song, got heads turning. Another song from the album, Address Song, has also become a huge hit. "All thanks to Santhosh Narayanan and Pradeep's music, which will be a huge plus for the film. The background score has also come out well. Santhosh was keen to introduce Pradeep as a composer with this film," says Vaibhav, who believes that the good vibes both composers share have translated into the film's music.
On the film releasing alongside Mersal, this Diwali, Vaibhav laughs and says, "It's scary. Originally, the film was scheduled for release on November 17. "But some films that were scheduled for Diwali haven't really stuck to their plans. So, the producers and distributors felt this would be a good time as the spillover audiences from Mersal would flock to Meyaadha Maan." Vaibhav has come under some attack on social media. "People are abusing me on Twitter for having my film release alongside Mersal (laughs). Also, as I acted in Mankatha, they're asking if am I doing so because I'm an Ajith fan. I don't have a problem. It's all great for promotion," he says.