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Photo: M. MOORTHY

Ever smiling All set to make it big

No surprise then, his debut film has won him a good number of female fans. A compliment that the youngster accepts humbly, albeit with a tinge of shyness.

Son of veteran filmmaker P. Vasu, Shakti is not new to Tamil cinema.

As a child artiste, he has many films to his credit, the most successful one being ‘Chinna Thambi,’ in which he played the young Prabhu.

“I started to act at the age of seven and for the next three years all I knew was only cinema. Fearing that I would quit studies for films, my mother forced me back into academics. From then on, studies became my priority till I finished my MBA,” he explains.

Shakti was among the toppers and got attractive offers from MNCs. But given his passion for cinema, he declined them.

“I just handed over the degree certificates to my mom and started chasing my interest,” he says.

Shakti admits he was overjoyed when Vasu decided to launch him. “Playing a hero was my long-time aim. And when my father decided to direct my first film, my joy knew no bounds. At the sets, he was not the same man whom I saw as a child artiste. If a shot took more than two takes, he would take me to task. To be frank, I had been upset at times, but when I saw the end product on screen I realised the pains taken by my father to mould me as an actor,” he says.

Shakti is well aware of the competition in the industry and concedes he has to put in sustained hard work to cement his place. “During the 70s and 80s entering the tinsel town was tough, but succeeding was easier. Now it is just the opposite,” Shakti recalls the advice he got from superstar Rajinikanth.

A die-hard fan of Ajith, Shakti can never forget the words of praise from Rajinikanth. “You will be the next Ajith,” the veteran actor said after watching Shakti’s performance in the film ‘Thottal…’ “Those encouraging words mean a lot to me. It only urges me to do better in my upcoming films,” he says.

Shakti’s next venture is ‘Mahesh, Saranya, Matrum Palar’ (MSMP), the shooting for which is nearing completion. The movie, directed by Lingusamy’s assistant P.V. Ravi, has Sandhya playing the female lead and is touted to be a family entertainer.

“I listened to at least 15 scripts but okayed only three and one of them is MSMP. It was fun all the way at the sets of MSMP. The experience of having worked under a person of my dad’s calibre came in handy during the shoot,” he says.

The two other films Shakti has signed up are ‘Ninaithale Inikkum,’ directed by Kumar and ‘Aatanayagan’ for which Mithran wields the megaphone. All the three directors are debutants and Shakti has no qualms working with first timers.

“All the three came up with novel scripts and also they have the experience of working under seasoned directors. I don’t find any reason why I shouldn’t work with new comers as long as the storyline is different,” he clarifies.

‘Ninaithale Inikkum,’ is a twin hero subject played by Shakti and Prithviraj. “It is certainly not a remake and both of us have got equal weightage in the movie. In the film I come only in the flashback scenes. And ‘Aatanayagan’ is totally an action subject,” he reveals.

Ask Shakti about his favourite hobbies. Pat comes the reply, ‘watching lot of movies. It helps me to learn a lot.’ Clearly, committed to make a mark.

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