Monday Apr 14 2008, Chennai

Bharath gets candid of films, fees, heroines

With his latest release Nepali getting good reviews and crowds at the cinema halls; Bharath is over the moon nowadays.Recently, he met with media-persons to share his happiness..He gets candid about his films, fees, and heroines.Q: Was the story of Nepali altered to suit Bharath’s style of acting.

..or, did Bharath agree to act in it for the story? A: I did Nepali out of my love for the story.Director V.Z.

Durai initially narrated a romantic story to me.I told him to come up with an action-packed movie as I felt that I had been continuously doing one romantic film after another for the past few years.He then told me the story of Nepali, which he had told another hero too.  I immediately liked the story and gave my consent to act in it. For close to nine months, I have taken a lot of pain and put in some serious commitments to do the film.

  I’m only too happy that my hard-work is paying rich dividends now.Q: Unlike your earlier films, you seem to get very intimate with Meera Jasmine in this film.  Any special reasons for that...

? A: Because the script demanded it; nothing else!  I’m a director’s actor and I have to do what I’m told to do by my director.Q: You commit many murders in Nepali.Still, what’s the need to offer explanation to your deeds after every murder? A: It was the director’s idea so that the viewers get to understand the motive behind each killing.The explanation, given in an incoherent accent as spoken by a Nepali in the film, went well with audience, I’m told.I mostly spoke through my nose instead of by my mouth, to differentiate the accent.

Q: About your next film....A: I’m doing Muniyandi Vilangiyal Moondraam Aandu, Veil directed by Hari, Tiruthani by Perarasu and another film titled Arumugam.

Q: How did the Chinna Thalapathi title formed? A: This title was given to me by my affectionate fans, which I’m using mainly to make them feel happy.I don’t want to delve into whether an actor wants a title or not.Q: Now that both Pazhani and Nepali are commercial hits, do you have any plans of hiking your fee? A: Depending upon whether or not his latest movie was a hit, an actor’s fee is raised or reduced.  As an actor, I don’t have any say about my fee.Distributors, theatre owners and finally the producers decide it.

Q: Sandhya, Bhavana, Meera Jasmine and now Boodhana...you seem to find girls from Kerala exciting to work with.  Is that a fact? A: Absolutely not! It so happened that all of them are from Kerala; also the fact that Malayale actresses emote well could also be the reason for it.

Q: Now that you have moved on from being a romantic hero to an action hero, you may not get to sing as many duets with the heroines as you used to do earlier.  Any regrets about that? A: Why should I? Don’t action movies come with duet songs? I switched over to action films to give myself some longevity to sustain in this cut-throat industry.  Right from Rajni-Kamal to Vijay-Ajit, action films have sustained their hero image over a period of time.As far as I am concerned, let me assure that even my action films would have heavy doses of romantic scenes and duets?