Actor Sivakarthikeyan is all smiles and gives no hint of pressure to sustain the blockbuster success of his previous outing, Amaran, with his recent film Madharaasi. He believes that a film succeeds and fails due to multiple reasons, and his responsibility is limited. "I can only listen to a script and see to it that I do the job the director envisioned for me. Ensuring my producer gets a table profit before the film releases lies in my ambit. I have no power over other factors such as climate and political situation, which are crucial for footfall. My only concern about Madharaasi is that the film should be engaging, " he begins, adding, "There is no overarching pressure to deliver a hit. Even in Amaran, there was skepticism about whether I could pull off an Army officer's role and if a biopic could have the right commercial elements. I will only work towards overcoming such challenges. Amaran was yet to be released when I had already signed for Madharaasi and Parasakthi. There is no way I choose films thinking about a hit streak or anything."
Likewise, monotony is not something that Sivakarthikeyan would lose sleep over while choosing action films. "The kind of action films that I do ensure this monotony is curbed. In Maaveeran, my character is not comfortable engaging in fights. He requires a supernatural prompt before springing into action. My character in Amaran is determined to even lay down his life for his team. In Madharaasi, after a point, my character should seem unstoppable. So if I get an interesting character, it takes care of subverting monotony," he adds, while emphasising that he won't choose challenging characters, which might not cater to his market demands. "I can no longer sign films just because I like the story. I desire to do a full-fledged comedy film, but I don't think I have the liberty to do that. That's why I produce films."
The fact that Sivakarthikeyan considers his role as a producer to be liberating is interesting because in today's times, it is getting tougher to back a film. Take, for instance, Vetri Maaran's announcement that he will no longer produce films after Bad Girl. Sivakarthikeyan, while acknowledging the difficulties faced by producers, posits he is not the right person to flag issues. "I produce such films that I want to but cannot act in, or a film with a fascinating story not known to many, such as Kottukkaali. I make films from a portion of my earnings from my acting career. Let me be honest, I am not making ventures that would incur a loss. I produce films out of passion with a limited risk. Not many producers are dependent on their own resources to make a film. Yes, there are plenty of systemic issues in producing a film that need to be discussed and sorted out. But I am not the person who can comment on them."
Since he is also a producer, Sivakarthikeyan is no stranger to number-crunching. The magic number that Tamil cinema is now hankering over is Rs 1000 crore. He believes that a film cannot be approached purely in terms of hard numbers. "Like I said before, we did not think about the number Amaran would make while working on it. You cannot make a film like that. Apart from the quality of a film, there are other factors to consider, such as ticket pricing. I am not in favour of increasing the ticket prices, but if we charged as much as in Bengaluru or Mumbai, then Jailer would have easily crossed Rs 800 crores, if not Rs 1000 crores. So, our films need more penetration in the Northern markets to reach that number. The problem with that is that we usually sign four-week deals with OTT platforms after release. In cities like Mumbai, the multiplexes will screen your film provided the film has its OTT premiere only eight weeks after the theatrical release. If not for this conundrum, Amaran would have received a much wider reach in the Northern regions," he adds, elaborating that it would be wishful thinking to assume that one star and one big film is the solution. "It is not so easy to be pulled off by a single person. But I believe Tamil cinema is getting there, and the elusive Rs 1000 crore accomplishment would be achieved in a couple of years."
Several Tamil films that were expected to breach the magical four-digit number failed, either because they lacked the storytelling quality or because it was not pan-Indian. Sivakarthikeyan opines that a film cannot be made pan-Indian, and the stakeholders of a film need to play the waiting game to see if their movie is gaining acceptance across languages. "Pan-Indian films cannot be made. The acceptability of the content alone can make a movie pan-Indian." He agrees, despite hoping Madharaasi's content would be palatable to all regions, that things could go either way. "The film has dealt with an issue that is universal, and hopefully, it is relatable to all parts of India."
Sivakarthikeyan proved to be a solid entertainer and a reliable actor following the success of Maan Karate, produced by AR Murugadoss. He said it felt really exciting to be a part of his directorial as he looked up to his works. "Nothing much has changed about Murugadoss sir. He is the same cool person he was a decade ago. During Maan Karate, he visited the sets just twice or thrice; that's the amount of freedom he gave. Similarly, he doesn't exert any pressure on the actor in his sets. Even if it is a crucial scene and I ask him an extra 10 minutes to get ready, he obliges. The way he gets work done in the sets is inspiring," says Sivakarthikeyan, who believes that having a director like Murugadoss believing in him throughout the preparation process of the film was quite the motivation factor. "Murugadoss sir wanted me to look hefty to make it believable that I can do serious damage if rubbed the wrong way. This was especially challenging because I also had to do romance, dance, and delve into humour while looking bulked up. My role also had an alter ego, and Murugadoss sir gave me the time and trust to get things right. It was crucial."
After working in three back-to-back action films, Sivakarthikeyan is set to reunite with his Don collaborator Cibi Chakravarthy. "I will be working on a film with Cibi. I am eager to see how the film comes out. That will be my next project. Followed by that would be Venkat Prabhu sir's film. Also, the one with Pushkar-Gayatri is still under discussion. I am very excited about the line-up," he signs off.
