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On the road to success

Vishal never believes in stereotype cast, writes S.S.KAVITHA

ON LOCATION Vishal on the sets of `Thimir' in Madurai

Any visitor to the city falls in love with the dusty but mesmerising streets of Madurai. A few Kollywood celebrities have a sentimental attachment to the Temple City, a mix of A, B and C centre crowds, which decides the fate of new releases. The recent hits, `Gilli' of Vijay, `Kadhal' of Bharath and Balaji Sakthivel and `Sanda Kozhi' of Vishal, are testimonies to this belief. And it was no surprise that yet another Kollywood hero went ga-ga over this film-crazy city during his recent visit.

"After Sanda Kozhi's success, my love for the city has grown manifold," said Vishal, who was here on shooting for his third venture, `Thimir,' with Reema Sen. The shooting went on at a brisk pace in Madurai and nearby locales such as Karaikudi.

A mega dance sequence was shot at Anna Nagar, Mariamman Teppakulam and a few other places in the city, where Vishal was dancing to a Yuvanshankar Raja's tune along with `O Podu' Kiran. Priyan handled the camera.

Third venture

The story is set in Madurai and Vishal's brother Vikram Krishna, is the producer of the movie, which is directed by debutant Tharun Gopi. The cast also includes Shreya Reddy, Manoj K. Jayan and Vijayan.

After tasting success in `Chellamae' and `Sanda Kozhi,' Vishal is striving for a hat-trick with action-packed `Thimir.' He first faced the camera as a docile hero pairing Reema Sen in `Chellame,' only to become a `chellam' of Tamil audience with success in his second venture as an action hero in `Sanda Kozhi.'

Vishal said his heart was filled with a variety of emotions when he first tasted adulation of female fans while surreptitiously visiting cinemas to measure the response to `Chellame.'

Unchartered course

A graduate in Visual Communications from Loyola College, from where Vishal got an insight into the world of advertising and film-making and, above all, gained the confidence to meet a demanding film world. But acting was an unchartered course for him.

Though his pet dream was to say `start, action, cut,' fate led him to face the camera. It all happened when an irresistible offer came from Ram Gopal Varma to be one of his assistants. When he was all set to move his dream on a trolley, it came to a screeching halt with stiff opposition from his parents. Later, settling for the next best thing, Vishal decided to work as an assistant to actor Arjun in his `Vedham' and `Ezhumalai.' It was a decision that changed his career and so far there is no looking back.

"Before I took to acting, I did a lot of home work," he said. His association with `Koothupattarai,' a high-profile theatre group, helped him to get into the `skin of characters.' He also honed his martial art skills and learnt the right dance steps.

"Now, I feel happy that all my homework is paying handsome dividends."

"I slowly slip into the characters I do --- be it Raghunanthan or others. I visualise the scenes frame by frame." Though he is choosy about roles and scripts, Vishal never believes in `stereotyped casting.'

Role model and inspiration

Vishal considers his father G.K. Reddy, producer, as his role model but he derives inspiration for acting from Prakash Raj. Though he has put on the garb of an actor, Vishal's love for direction is still alive. He feeds his director-self with real-life situations while acting on location. "One day I will become a director for sure and make a mark in filmdom," signed off lanky Vishal.

Now he is committed to do `Thirumayam' with Karu Palaniappan and an unnamed film directed by `Sami,' `Ayya' and `Aaru'-fame Hari.

Many actors have broken the `unwritten law' of Kollywood that a hero should be good-looking, fair and smart. A new addition is Vishal.

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