‘Tamil film stars are overpaid’: Vishnu Vishal interview on making pan-India hits and why ‘Aaryan’ is special

Vishnu Vishal makes a statement as he walks in for the promotions of his upcoming film. His T-shirt reads, in bold letters, “Not Ratsasan”.

There is a reason for that: it is to announce that his next, Aaryan, despite being a crime thriller, will be different from his 2018 superhit (Ratsasan ), also a crime thriller.

“Over the last decade, Ratsasan has become a sort of textbook on how to make a thriller. I can never probably beat that, but Aaryan, on the other hand, will be a new experience,” said the actor.

This confidence stems from many aspects, prime among them being the unique one-liner that director Praveen K narrated to him a few years ago. “Thrillers revolving serial killers are most interesting because you want to know who is behind the murders,” he explains. With Aaryan’s trailer, the makers reveal who it is, which likely points to the character essayed by Selvaraghavan. But is there a twist there? “Well, the storyline was unique,” laughs Vishnu, “I respect writers and directors who come up with elements that are seemingly impossible.”

Here, Vishnu plays a cop trying to crack a mysterious case, something that his father (Ramesh Kudawla, a former Director-General of Police) has seen quite frequently in his professional life. “When I told him the one-liner about a situation this cop is in, he was zapped. That a policeman as experienced as him felt that way gave me a lot more confidence to back this project.”

Post 2018, Vishnu underwent a tough phase in both his personal and professional life. While he was separated from his then-wife before the divorce was finalised, his films kept getting dropped due to various reasons. “Nine movies got dropped,” he states, “I didn’t understand what was happening.”

Slowly, he was able to pin all these disappointments to one reason: that his 2018 flick Sillukuvarpatti Singam did not do well at the box office, which sent across a message to prospective producers that he was not a bankable star. “It is another matter that the film was released along with seven others, thus decreasing its chances of theatrical collections,” explains Vishnu, who went on to bankroll his own projects, like the 2022 action thriller FIR.

Variety fare

On the subject of collections, Vishnu points out how the success of films like Lokah, Pushpa and Kantara augurs well for the industry. Why, then, has Tamil cinema not yet churned out that big pan-India blockbuster? Vishnu ponders, “Enthiran (2010),in my opinion, was the first pan-India blockbuster, but I feel after that, we have missed a trick. I feel the reason that films work across the country is because they are rooted in the milieu they are set. We in Tamil cinema are missing our roots. We think that pan-India is about star combinations, which it is not. Also – and this viewpoint might be controversial – Tamil cinema stars are overpaid. I’m saying this despite being an actor myself. In the process, the budgets for the actual making of the film come down.”

Vishnu has busy years ahead of him, where he will dabble in a variety of genres: there is a love story titled Irandu Vaanam, a comedy flickGatta Gusthi 2, a sports-based film with Arunraja Kamaraj, and another romance film with Bachelor director Sathish Selvakumar. But among these, Aaryan is special because it is named after Vishnu’s own son, who is eight years old now. “I did not see him grow, as I had separated from his mother by then. Plus, it was during the COVID-19 phase. Despite not having spent enough time with him, I am extremely emotionally attached,” he feels. This attachment also comes with a fair bit of pressure, he cautions.

“Someone asked me why I was looking stressed these days, and that is because though I am extremely happy with the way Aaryan has turned out, it has to live up to my son’s name. In future, when he grows up, he should feel happy watching it.”

‘Aaryan’ is set to release in theatres on October 31