SJ Suryah stars as the sadistic antagonist in Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, starring Nani and Priyanka Arul Mohan. The film is highly anticipated because of the collaboration of actor Nani and writer-director Vivek Athreya. Their last outing was the rom-com Ante Sundaraaniki (2023), which featured Nazriya Fahadh. While promoting the film, actor-director SJ Suryah talked about what he liked in Vivek Athreya’s story.
Talking about the narration, he said, “Nani gaaru approached me, saying that I have to play the antagonist role. But I had a busy schedule, so I was still deciding. But when Vivek Athreya narrated the script, I was blown over. It became necessary for me to do this film because of the uniqueness of the concept. The director is presenting an interesting subject in a fresh way. Vivek Athreya is a very rare creator. ”
On discussing the story of the film, he further adds, “I will openly tell the story. Even if I reveal the core premise, it won’t disturb the film because the presentation is special. If you watch this film already knowing the concept, you’ll love it more. In South or North Indian films, there is often a repetitive concept that is drawn from superstar Rajinikanth’s Baasha. Take any star-led action movie—Amitabh Bachchan’s Shahenshah, Chiranjeevi’s Indra, or even Bahubali—all the films have the same base template of Manik Baasha, who has a backstory of being a legend. Wherever you go in India, the same concept is shown in most action films. Each filmmaker presents it in a fresh way, and that’s fun for us.”
SJ Suryah conveys that, although that concept is known to us all, director Vivek Athreya found a fresh perspective to tell it; he mentions, “In Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, the character of Surya has anger issues as a child. In order to solve that problem, his mother tells him to control his anger all week except one day. That day is Saturday. So, most days of the week, Nani’s character is like Manikam: simple and innocent. But on Saturday, he becomes Baasha.” In this perspective, SJ Surya says that the same old template got a fresh re-telling.
When it comes to the regular question, he often gets asked about the failures of his films Puli (2010), the Pawan Kalyan starrer, and Nani (2004), the Mahesh Babu film. He opens up more on that. “I feel regret, for sure. But I don’t let it stop me. I made Pawan Kalyan’s Kushi, which was a huge blockbuster, but later, with the other films, a lot of things went wrong. It’s fine; there’s always a second chance. I would hope to gather more energy and make films with them again. Even today, when I meet Mahesh Babu or Pawan Kalyan, I cry like a baby. Because I still feel bad inside.”
He concludes with, “Saripodhaa Sanivaaram is a sure-shot hit film. audience will enjoy this film, and I am confident this film will remain in Nani gaaru’s career as a great one.” Saripodhaa Sanivaaram hits theatres on August 22.
