Vijay on Sachien

Interview
"They are the living legends of Tamil cinema": Vijay
By Moviebuzz

In Tamil cinema Vijay is closest to superstar Rajnikanth in terms of box-office pull. All his recent films including his last release, Tirupachi has been super hits and he is the darling of the trade.

For the first time ever Vijay speaks about Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, and how his latest film Sachin will meet the competition. Vijay spoke to Sify.com at the Prasad studios, Chennai during the shooting of a song with none other than the dusky Bollywood sex symbol Bipasha Basu.

Excerpts:

April 14 is going to be the red letter day as your film Sachin will clash with Rajnikanth’s Chandramukhi and Kamal Haasan’s Mumbai Express Please comment
There is no such potti(competition) as people and trade make out (smiles), I am too small an actor compared to Rajni sir and Kamal sir. They are the living legends of Tamil cinema and I have grown up on their films. They have done more than 200 films and compared to them who am I? A payyan who has done just 40 films and given a few hits. I cannot even be placed along with them.

Come off it, you are the current ‘numero uno’ of Tamil films according to the trade. Are you being too modest?
Rajni sir and Kamal sir are on a different league and to compare me with them is not fair. A comparison with heroes of my generation would be better. I don’t want to talk further about it as some people may make politics out of it.

If you are so much in awe of the two great actors, why didn’t you postpone the release of Sachin to May?
When Sachin was launched last October, my producer Kalaipuli.S.Thanu had announced at a press conference that the release would be on April 14, Tamil New Year. At that time both Rajni sir and Kamal sir had not even launched their respective films. And so there is no going back on what we promised the audience, distributors and theatres.

Why are you doing the same kind of formula films that cater to your fans?
That’s what they ask for and I want to keep them entertained. It has worked well for me and why should I change tracks and experiment when such genre has proved lucky for me at the box-office?

Is Sachin also in the same genre?
(smiles) It is a romantic film. You will not find punchline dialogues or mass songs. But I assure you that Sachin will be a treat for everyone as it has all the necessary ingredients to make it successful.