Varun: Joshua won't be your usual action flick

Actor Varun feels the weight of emotions engulfing his head ahead of the release of his upcoming film Joshua Imai Pol Kaakha, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. Over a phone call, he says, "I am partly relieved and partly excited for his film to hit theatres. I am happy that things are finally falling in place for this film which is close to my heart."

Joshua began filming in 2019 and was expected to see a theatrical release in 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production of the film was halted. "In cinema, unpredictability is always a looming factor. In between the post-production of Enai Noki Paayum Thota, the shoot of Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu and Dhruva Natchathiram, we shot Joshua. We had the pandemic and I also went to participate in Bigg Boss Tamil. Despite the release being delayed, I and the team are confident that the visuals will be relevant to this date," Varun assures.

Speaking on working with Gautham Menon, Varun says, "It was a great experience working with him. He is like a university where we can learn everything from him. He keeps narrating instructions in between shots to improvise a scene. We need to go along with them and not get distracted. This took time for us to get used to," he notes.

In Joshua, Varun plays a hitman who becomes a bodyguard for a high-profile client played by Raahei. "This is a full-fledged raw and rustic action film. There are eight to ten action sequences which will be unique and different from the stunts we usually see on screen," he says.

As a part of training for the film, Varun travelled to Paris, worked under popular stunt choreographer Yannick Ben and learnt mixed martial arts (MMA), parkour and rifle shooting. "There is no stunt double for me in this film and I have tried several risky action shots in multiple scenes. We have shot some intense scenes in slum areas of Chennai and during those 30-40 minutes, I would not be even wearing my slipper," he notes.

When asked if he would choose to do more action films in the future, he says, "I have given my best for this film. This doesn't mean that I am keen on working on action-oriented films. Joshua worked in my favour, but I would love to take up roles in other genres as well."