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00:00Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan, I'm the entertainment editor for Gulf News.
00:08Today we have South Indian star and Mani Ratnam's discovery, I'm being a bit reductive when
00:14I say it Arun Swamy, but I think I discovered you through Roja.
00:19That's been the, you know, when I saw that movie, I remember telling my mother I wanted
00:22a husband like you, without even knowing and yeah, now we are all grown up.
00:28Of course, he's amazing.
00:29Father of my three kids, I can't say anything more, but he's amazing.
00:33You need to tell me, like, have you moved away from that shadow, Arun Swamy?
00:38I never took it seriously in the first place, to be, I mean, how I'm perceived is not within
00:43my control, in a sense, so people said those kind of things, I never took it to heart,
00:50so I didn't have to move away because I didn't move in there first.
00:56You are what you call a reluctant actor, I think.
00:59You were cherry-picked by one of the best in Tamil cinema, but are you still a reluctant
01:03actor?
01:04Are you now in a phase where you want to be an actor, therefore I am?
01:07No, even then I enjoyed the process of working in the film, but I didn't really enjoy the
01:13stardom.
01:14I'm still uncomfortable, I don't think of myself as a star and all that, I just want
01:18to focus on my work and do the next interesting thing, whether it's an acting or something
01:23else, then I just pick and choose what I want to do in life and I just keep going.
01:28You have reinvented yourself, it's funny you say you don't like the trappings of fame
01:31because most people are in it for that game, right?
01:34The popularity, people loving you, that kind of validation, why is it that you don't feel
01:39the need for approval?
01:40It's not about the need for approval, in the sense that obviously when you are putting
01:46in effort for something, then you are seeking validation in that sense, about your performance
01:54or about the effort that you put in or whether you've actually contributed to the betterment
01:58of the film and things like that, but not really in terms of, what do I say, I kind
02:04of segregate the two things, so the one is what I just explained, the other one would
02:09be like let's say when I go out, people going a little crazy about you or the attention
02:17being on you, I'm very comfortable with the attention not on me, at a personal level,
02:23so I don't expect people to know me, I always introduce myself when I meet people, you don't
02:35seem very affected by, I don't want to be, I just want to think of it as a job and do
02:41it, I think similar, I just like that as a person, so in my business, I was just talking
02:47to somebody, I was telling somebody, I don't start out saying how do I make money, I start
02:52out by saying how do I solve a problem or what is interesting is the process of creating
02:58a solution to a problem and then we can figure out how to make it, if you actually do solve
03:04a problem, then you can figure out the rest.
03:07Because there was a time when you stepped away from the world of movies, you went into
03:10entrepreneurship, it's not easy right, to reinvent the wheel like that, like once an
03:15actor, you always think you are caught by the acting bug, but you seem to…
03:19Not really.
03:20I love it, how you are so like distant, like it's not happening to me, I can totally like
03:24retire right now.
03:25Yeah, so I didn't do a film for 13 years and I wasn't planning to make a comeback or anything
03:29like that, so it's just an option that is provided by Mr. Mani Ratnam, so you know and
03:35then when you think that you can't or when people think that you can't do it and there's
03:39something that comes and then you can say why not and then take it up as a challenge.
03:42Right, your comeback was a bit of a flop and then you decided let me show you how it's
03:47done.
03:48Not like in a negative way, but I'm saying even like you know for me that film Kadal,
03:54between my guest role in Alaipayudhe, which was in 1999-2000.
03:57It was brilliant, one of the strongest cameos.
04:00And then between that and Kadal, there were a lot of things that happened.
04:05The most relevant thing for what I'm trying to say is that I had a spinal injury, I was
04:08in bed for a couple of years, I had a partial paralysis of my leg and a lot of things like
04:15that.
04:16So when Kadal came, it was more like a challenge internally as to whether I could actually
04:19get back into shape, get back my mobility and things like that.
04:24Though I was feeling better, I didn't have the confidence to do it, but this gave me
04:27some kind of a purpose to kind of get back into good health in a sense.
04:33So that way, Kadal is very special, more special than maybe some of the other hits that I've
04:37had because it personally helped me get to another stage in my life.
04:44It's interesting, Jason Derulo, the rapper as well, was talking about, he was a dancer,
04:47now a rapper.
04:48He also had a debilitating accident where he could not walk one fine day, even taking
04:53a shower was a big deal.
04:55And he's saying that, you know, me wanting to come back, that was a personal battle.
04:58It had nothing to do with the external factors.
05:01Even in your head, is it that?
05:03I want to prove that I can be...
05:04It was more like, I mean, I don't know this gentleman that you're talking about, but when
05:08you said, you know, shower, it was the same thing.
05:11From the time that I get from my bed to the shower, I would be in extreme, excruciating
05:17pain.
05:18And I would have to sit down like three or four times.
05:20So then you realize a lot of things as to how you take things for granted.
05:24You wake up from your bed, you jump out of bed, you go to your shower, it's taken for
05:28granted.
05:29So when your mobility is questioned, and you're in that kind of pain, and you know, you don't
05:33have full control of your limbs and things like that, then it's a different perspective
05:38altogether.
05:39And then, like this gentleman said, it's a challenge.
05:44Can I do that?
05:45And then when you do that, like, within, I think a year or so after Kadal, I ran two
05:49half marathons.
05:50Well done, you!
05:51But I was in bed for two years, right?
05:53So for me, it was like, it was not about the training for the marathon, I just, it was
05:56more mental.
05:57Right.
05:58Like, you know, you, like the last three, four kilometers was all, in my mind was like,
06:02you know, you could not get out of bed.
06:04Right.
06:05And, you know, you have like, maybe 10 meters.
06:09And you did that 26 kilometers.
06:10And now you're in the last, yeah, last, you know, three kilometers or four kilometers.
06:14Half marathon, that's impressive.
06:16It's not easy, right?
06:17I mean, I'm sure it's also about discipline, isn't it?
06:20Or is it?
06:21I don't know what makes...
06:22I think it's more mental.
06:23I mean, I guess you can go, you know, you can go through any training, but I didn't.
06:26I just, you know, did it out of mental...
06:29You just started walking and running and that's it.
06:32Oh, wow.
06:33No coach as well.
06:34I mean, I'm sure there's like a huge business of like running marathons.
06:36It's an actual business.
06:37No, I'm sure there's a better way to do it.
06:39Yeah, but you did it.
06:40For me, I just needed to do it for my satisfaction.
06:42Right.
06:43And for me to have, you know, to feel better about myself or to feel good about myself.
06:49Right.
06:50So I just did it.
06:51That's all.
06:52Right.
06:53Now, when you choose movies such as the one with Karthi as well, what are the factors
06:55that made you say yes to this?
06:56Because if you're giving time, I think you would want it to count, right?
06:59This was very special.
07:00Like, it's a very, very special script.
07:02It's not like one of those things where I've done some work at my office or whatever I'm
07:06doing in my business and then I say, okay, now I have a few months off, let me see if
07:11I can figure out something.
07:12Yes.
07:13What is interesting amongst the...
07:15I figured it out.
07:17For this, even if I was in the middle of something, I would have definitely made time for this.
07:22Why is that?
07:23This is a very, very rare script or a story.
07:26You don't get stories like this.
07:29You don't get opportunities to work in a project like this.
07:34Right.
07:35No, what I found is just two men, like two cousins bonding, I think, or getting to know
07:40each other.
07:41It's like a Malayalam movie, I feel.
07:43Very few characters.
07:44The budget is also not crazy.
07:46It's not a tentpole movie.
07:48It's a small film, right?
07:49With sentiments.
07:50In the sense of the framework.
07:52Yeah.
07:54What you're saying now, if you say that, okay, it's a relationship between two people.
07:57Yes.
07:58Can you write three hours of that relationship and keep it interesting?
08:01Not really.
08:02You can.
08:03Have you seen Marriage Story?
08:04No, no.
08:05Two people.
08:06I know you can, but I'm saying that most people don't.
08:07I see.
08:08Yeah.
08:09For sure.
08:10What I'm trying to say is that the easier thing is to say, you know, this is a large
08:11canvas and there are 20 characters and there are so many fights and so many things and
08:15you fill up the time.
08:16Yeah, yeah.
08:17You tick the boxes.
08:18You tick the boxes and you keep the audience occupied.
08:19Yeah.
08:20The most difficult thing is to write a very thin, to expand that thin line or a base,
08:27basic thing and make it interesting for the two and a half hours or three hours or whatever.
08:33That is in the writing.
08:34So when I read the story, it touches you at so many different levels.
08:40Right.
08:41And there's no way that a sensible person or even an actor would, you know, would think
08:49twice about saying yes to this project.
08:51Really?
08:52You're saying they wouldn't say yes to it?
08:54Yeah.
08:55No, I'm saying they would.
08:56They would.
08:57Any actor would say yes.
08:58Yeah.
08:59They would say yes.
09:00You have a special bond with Karthi as well, who says, who's, you know, who almost talks
09:03to you like an elder brother, the kind of like, apparently you gave him some parenting
09:06tips, which he really took it with great grace.
09:09Really?
09:10Yeah.
09:11Parenting is a tricky terrain.
09:12Yeah.
09:13Don't tell parents how to parent their kids.
09:14It never ends well.
09:15But you did it.
09:16Bravo, you.
09:17But because you have experience, he said that.
09:19He's seen it happening.
09:20Really?
09:21Similarly, he really cared for what you had to say about his craft, etc.
09:26Do you make that kind of effort with every actor you are with or only is it with actors
09:29that you bond with?
09:30No, sometimes you take liberties with people and you know that, you know, you can.
09:33I mean, in a sense that, you know, the reason is not about like, you know, don't give parenting
09:37tips to people.
09:39It's just that, let's say, for example, if my kids are last two years and I know what's
09:43coming for you, then I would give my two cents to tell you how you could approach the situation.
09:51Right.
09:52So it's only that.
09:53It's not like, it's not because of anything else, except for the fact that my kids have
09:56crossed the stage that his kids are getting into.
09:58Yes.
09:59So you come from me.
10:00Yeah.
10:01You've seen the ringside view.
10:02Yeah.
10:03I've seen the pain and the glory.
10:04Of course.
10:05Of course.
10:06Parenting is never easy as well.
10:07And in terms of just like South Indian cinema, there's a lot of attention on content.
10:11I come, I mean, I watch Malayalam movies for a living.
10:14I love it.
10:15I come from Kerala.
10:16So it's brilliant stuff.
10:17Do you think that this is a reckoning for South Indian films?
10:20People are watching it like any movie, irrespective of who's in it.
10:24People want to know what's in it now.
10:26Is it because of OTT?
10:27I don't know.
10:28But do you think it's just for South Indian or all kinds of cinemas being appreciated
10:33irrespective of where they come from?
10:35No, I don't think cinema is being appreciated.
10:37That's the basic thing.
10:38You can make a really good entertainer also.
10:41See, it's just that it doesn't show any effort or doesn't show any, like, you know, craft.
10:49So if you look at Malayalam cinema,
10:51The foundation is good writing.
10:53So if you have, I can say that story in like a minute.
10:58Yes, you can.
10:59Or I will not be able to tell you what the story is, but I'll still be able to
11:02Encapsulate it.
11:03I'll still be able to keep you occupied and keep you interested for the time being,
11:08for the time or the duration of the film.
11:10So that's in the writing.
11:12You could have a scene where nothing happens, but everything happens.
11:14For sure.
11:15So it's like that.
11:16It's the beauty of writing, beauty of filmmaking and things like that.
11:19But you need a strong foundation of writers.
11:22Right.
11:23I think Kerala has that.
11:26So I think, like, so the reputation about, like, you know, the newfound,
11:31I'm not saying like newfound in terms of yesterday or today,
11:34but in the last few years, especially OTT and people exploring more of Malayalam cinema, etc.
11:39I think the quality of the films and the reason we like it so much,
11:44I think we should not underplay the effect of good writing.
11:48Yeah.
11:49And the presence of good writers in Kerala.
11:51Of course, of course.
11:52And I saw you in Kandahar as well.
11:53There is this one conversation where you had about coffee.
11:56It's become a meme.
11:57I'm telling you, as a person who has filter coffee every morning from Bangalore,
12:00I get it.
12:01I felt you.
12:02I felt, I'm like, this is it.
12:03It's a religion.
12:04You said it.
12:05I felt it's almost like your personal line.
12:07Were you involved in it or was it just smart writing?
12:09No, no, it's good writing.
12:11But even otherwise, I mean, you improvise as...
12:13Actors.
12:14I don't remember exactly what happened.
12:15Yeah, you said coffee is religion.
12:16Yeah, but I'm saying like, you know, whenever you improvise on the sets,
12:19the writer has to approve or the director has to approve depending on the things.
12:23I mean, I can't say it's the actors.
12:25It also is the choice of the director has to say when to say yes for a suggestion
12:30and when to say no for a suggestion.
12:32Okay.
12:33So, I mean, it's understood that there is always a collaboration between the
12:38actor and the director.
12:40Do you always work with people who have that kind of rapport with?
12:43Like you always look at the director?
12:45Does he vibe with you?
12:46Do you have that?
12:47Yeah, absolutely.
12:48It can be a problem.
12:49Like, for example, I can't work with directors who act and show me.
12:53Oh, that's your pet peeve?
12:55I mean, I just don't want to see somebody else act and, you know, like, imitate.
13:00Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:01You don't want that.
13:02You don't want to be spoon fed.
13:03Let me put it that way.
13:04Is that why?
13:05No, I should be allowed to interpret the character and I should be allowed to mix.
13:08You're welcome to say, no, I want it.
13:10You know, you are welcome to refine it.
13:12Yeah.
13:14But I think you need to seek a talent or somebody who has a craft for the fact that they bring
13:22something to the table.
13:23Right.
13:24Not that they will do exactly what you want.
13:26That doesn't work for me.
13:27Okay, fair enough.
13:28You also appear as an actor who is the most amiable and some guys just look good.
13:33Like you're a good bloke.
13:34You wouldn't do anything.
13:35I mean, I know you've played villain roles, but I'm just saying, is that to your advantage?
13:39Is that a baggage?
13:40Being the good guy?
13:41Being the regular guy?
13:42Like good looking, but regular.
13:44See, I mean, it depends.
13:46Like in this film also, I'm a regular guy.
13:48But a regular guy with a lot of, a regular guy means a guy with a baggage, with a burden
13:55in his heart and with the ability to go through a journey of self-realization and all that
14:02is also a regular guy.
14:03But if you say a regular guy in terms of he's a black and white, everything that he does
14:08is good.
14:09He never does anything bad.
14:10He has no shades of grey.
14:12It's the most boring thing that you can give.
14:14You have to be flawed.
14:15Again, I'm not trying to play with the minds of the audience to say, you know what, when
14:20you see me, then you must think that I'm a good person in real life.
14:23That's not what I'm playing.
14:24I'm here to enhance my craft.
14:28I'm here to play complexities.
14:30Right.
14:31Right.
14:32It's so interesting you say that.
14:33We're also going through complex times.
14:34You've always been diplomatic, I know.
14:36But there's a lot of dialogue about creating safe spaces for women, following with Malayalam
14:41cinema.
14:42Do you think, as an actor, are you very aware, how should your stand be, perhaps, when you
14:48hear reports of women being treated badly on sets or abused on sets?
14:53I mean, nobody's going to say that's a good environment for anybody to work in, right?
14:58So the only thing that we need to do is that, you know, when you are creating that environment,
15:06you need to make sure, yes, you work with people who can make each other comfortable.
15:11And the other thing is that to be able to provide access, if somebody needs help or
15:18needs advice, then that is something that needs to be mandatorily available to everybody.
15:24Right.
15:25And internal complaints committee, for instance.
15:29So whatever is legally recommended, yes.
15:31Yes, but I'm saying, you know, I think the Vishakha thing already has some guidelines
15:36about that.
15:37Right, and Posh as well.
15:38Posh compliant.
15:39But most importantly, you know, to know where to reach out to and who to reach out to.
15:45There should be reassurance.
15:46That's what you're saying.
15:47If at all you are abused, there should be.
15:48This is your number.
15:49This is your person that you should be in thing with.
15:51And then not put people in situations where, you know, somebody would be uncomfortable
15:56in the sense that create environments where, like common spaces where people can meet or
16:02interact, not create private spaces and private meetings and things.
16:06Yeah.
16:07And basically have like middlemen as well.
16:09That helps, I think.
16:10Or just streamline it and make it more professional.
16:12In a way that, you know, just keep it, like, you know, assume, you know, that you need
16:17to provide an environment where people are comfortable.
16:20Fair enough.
16:21I mean, going into details may not be easy for me in this interview.
16:24Yes, for sure.
16:25But the situation is, make sure that it's, you know, that help is available, that everybody
16:32who's working in your set is made comfortable and also has access to information as to where
16:38they need to reach.
16:39Fair enough.
16:40It's a good start.
16:41And create, you know, certain kind of guidelines and rules and educate people that you need
16:46to have common spaces where you can.
16:50Good.
16:51I mean, when you want to meet, when you go on a, let's say, telling somebody, I'm not
16:54saying this is a dating situation or whatever.
16:56I'm saying always better to be in a public place and have a conversation.
17:01Yes.
17:02Right?
17:03So avoid situations that are...
17:04That could land you, perhaps, in an uncomfortable position.
17:07Fair enough.
17:08I don't know.
17:09What do you want your...
17:10I'm not talking about giving this guideline to women.
17:11I'm talking about giving the guideline to everybody who's working.
17:13I don't think this is a gender issue.
17:14I'm not telling...
17:15What I'm trying to say is it's not like saying that, you know, I'm telling women, don't go
17:18and meet.
17:19I'm not saying that.
17:20Anything that goes wrong is not because of something.
17:24It's because of somebody who does something wrong.
17:26Of course.
17:27Right?
17:28And in this situation that you're referring to, it's about men misbehaving with women.
17:31Yes.
17:32I'm not saying that, you know...
17:33The onus is on the woman.
17:34It's not that.
17:35Yes, yes.
17:36I got it.
17:37As a professional environment, if I were the producer, I would always try to create spaces
17:43where people can meet, discuss, talk, open spaces, open environments, educate the people
17:50also.
17:51Yes.
17:52Sensitize them.
17:53What is acceptable?
17:54What is not acceptable?
17:55Yes.
17:56Yes.
17:57And also be sensitive about whether somebody is not in a comfortable situation.
18:02Fair enough.
18:03Things like that.
18:04Right.
18:05Of course.
18:06And we live in woke times.
18:07As an actor, is that...
18:08I'm not a woke person, so...
18:09Anything you say will be used against.
18:11It's not so funny.
18:12Yeah.
18:13But how do you deal with all that?
18:14I mean, you don't...
18:15What do you mean?
18:16Like, give me an example that I can...
18:17Like, let's say about consent.
18:18Let's say you speak something about consent.
18:20There's a good chance the person could be misinterpreted or without the contextualizing...
18:26No, consent is not woke.
18:27I think consent is a human right in a sense.
18:29It's not about being woke.
18:30Woke is about saying, let's say for example, you need to learn 72 pronouns and that is
18:37being woke.
18:38Listen, if your child says she's a goldfish, she is a goldfish.
18:42That's the times we live in.
18:44No, she's not.
18:45I'll tell her she's not a goldfish.
18:47Now that would be...
18:48I wouldn't put this in this country.
18:50Why not?
18:51No, you can't.
18:52But it's...
18:53It's my child.
18:54I can tell my child that he or she is not a goldfish.
18:56So...
18:57Yeah, I have three kids.
18:58I'm very worried.
18:59What would they identify themselves as at some point?
19:01I think they'll identify as human beings.
19:03Yes, with humanity.
19:04Yeah, and they can choose whatever gender they want.
19:07I'm not talking about all that.
19:08Right.
19:09I'm talking about if you...
19:10If somebody says that...
19:11If a human being says that I'm a goldfish, I'm not going to play by that rule.
19:17That's all I'm trying to say.
19:18Fair enough.
19:19Last question.
19:20What do you want your legacy to be?
19:21You've done a fabulous job as an actor.
19:23I don't put any legacy.
19:24I don't believe in legacies.
19:25What is this?
19:26Come on, say something.
19:27What is legacy?
19:28Like when I retire, when I'm not in this world?
19:29No, people want to remember you.
19:30Like if I look at Fahad Fazal, I think about his eyes, for instance.
19:33Alep Aita, I thought as a husband, you were like, you killed it.
19:36Not literally.
19:38Yeah, not literally.
19:39But you're such a supportive husband.
19:40And I keep telling, that's the way to act.
19:41You know, on a fictional ground, if you met with an accident, I would reach out to a husband
19:45like you.
19:46So in that case, what do you want?
19:47Like, do you want your roles to define you?
19:49There must be something, right?
19:50Nothing.
19:51Nothing.
19:52Nothing.
19:53Just forget about me.
19:54Move on to the next person who's entertaining you and you remember something else from the
19:57other person.
19:58If you do remember me, you remember me.
19:59If you don't, then it's not like you should remember me for something.
20:02Okay.
20:03On that very rather grim note, though, that's very sad.
20:06Why is it sad?
20:07No, I was expecting something dramatic, like, you know what, I should be remembered for
20:10my great, fantastic, phenomenal emotions.
20:12I don't want to be remembered.
20:13It doesn't make a difference when I'm not here, whether you remember me or not.
20:16It doesn't make a difference to me.
20:17Here is a man who does not think fame, validation from external factors is a thing.
20:22That's also a way of life.
20:23It's called Arvind Swami's way of life.
20:25We shall.
20:26And he only thinks about wearing yellow pants.
20:28He felt like it, apparently, and he totally rocks it.
20:31But you've also rocked in all the movies that you've played.
20:34If you're in a movie, we watch it.
20:35And I think that's a goodwill that you've earned.
20:37That's your legacy.
20:38Thank you so much.
20:39I can confidently say, I'll watch this movie just to see the cousin romance between you
20:44two.
20:45Cousin bonding, as we call it.
20:46Thank you so much for your time.
20:47Such a pleasure.