Actor Vijay Antony recently returned to the screens with the investigative thriller Maargan, the directorial debut of editor Leo John Paul. The film evoked interest with a unique antagonist characterisation. It was unique to the point that it made the protagonist look ordinary. Vijay Antony boldly shares that he can get away with thousands of usual run-of-the-mill cop roles if they were written for an extraordinary script. "I feel there is no necessity to present a vocation differently every time you play it. That is true even for police officer roles. One good script makes up for everything else, including a familiar character. The script of Maargan necessitated a strong negative role and a seemingly ordinary cop. At the end of the day, if a film's story does not resonate with the audience, it doesn't matter how brilliant a character is. According to me, if people remember a film's character more than its story, then the film has failed. Nothing should take primacy over the story. If that clicks, it can cover every other flaw. If that misses the mark, no other redemptive aspect can ever truly save such a film," he begins.
Vijay Antony admits that he cannot judge a script just by a one-liner or a synopsis. He needs to go through the full script to decide whether to take on the project. The actor-composer adds that his added role as a producer is the reason for this, as he doesn't want to take chances. "I have to concede I am not a knowledgeable person to decide if a film will be good solely by hearing a one-liner or a synopsis. Honestly, I am not swayed by just a couple of 'aha' moments in the script. So, I will insist on the narration of the script from start to finish. This process will filter out below-par scripts and less confident filmmakers," he says, praising Leo for making an excellent pitch and convincing him right away for Maargan. "Leo is a strong storyteller and I know for a fact that he will do a great job in the post-production, thanks to his career as an editor. I did have doubts about how he would handle the sets. On the very first day, he allayed such doubts too," he adds.
On choosing to work with a director, Vijay Antony says he would go for the nature of the person rather than just their technical prowess. "Leo impressed me on that front as well. You may be a knowledgeable person with avant-garde technical knowledge at your fingertips, but if you aren't well-behaved, the film will not progress the way it was envisioned. If you are ill-tempered and respond rudely, it will have a huge impact on the actors. I am pretty sure actors in such sets will not give their best," he says, adding, "Also, I loved that Leo wrote only the things that he wanted to shoot. I am not a fan of directors who write unnecessarily or shoot unnecessarily. I will not call someone a director who doesn't know where to stop and is not sure about what resources they require."
Vijay Antony had already said he would again start composing for films he is not starring in. With a long list of hit albums to his name, the actor-composer believes he can still dust himself off and make such music palatable to the current generation. "I view the reduction of the number of songs and the revamp of commercial filmmaking sensibilities as healthy. Now if you are just going to give me 2 or 3 songs instead of 5 or 6, I can invest more energy in those songs and bring out my best. I don't think I have a lot of catching up to do. Having said that, I need to enhance my knowledge in AI; it can do a lot to help in improving my efficiency," he charts out his plans to reinvent the composer in him, adding that he seconds AR Rahman's view that the composers today aren't sufficiently working on songs that adhere to classical aesthetics. "Knowing ragas will enable you to innovate your compositions. That is the reason why I would have used Carnatic music even in songs that least require it, such as 'Nenjakootil' and 'Chillax.' Having said that, I would also like to add that learning Western music is equally essential because with Classical, you may gain mastery over three or four instruments, but to conduct an orchestra on a huge canvas, like, say, involving 1000 musicians, a grasp of Western music is non-negotiable."
After having donned hats such as music composer, editor, actor and producer, the multi-hyphenate Vijay Antony will add two more hyphens as he turns a writer and a director for the third part of his hit franchise, Pichaikkaran. Surprisingly, he calls the process taxing and says he may not follow that path in the future. "Writing and directing consume a lot of time from me, and I feel it is a draining process. After this experience, I realised that in the time it takes for me to direct a film, I can work on four other films from different directors with interesting scripts as an actor-producer," he says. On a concluding note, Vijay Antony says his upcoming film, Shakthi Thirumagan, by Arun Prabu, will be released in two to three months and his next, Lawyer, helmed by Joshua Sethuraman, he says, will not just be confined to a courtroom but will explore emotions and drama outside of it as well.