I don't choose unique characters, they come to me: Vidaarth

CHENNAI: Vidaarth walks into our office after posing for a few selfies and he looks quite built for his upcoming project. But that doesn't take his excitement away from Marutham. The film has been garnering rave responses in which Vidaarth plays a common man, who goes through a scam after his land is auctioned by a bank. Vidaarth's portrayal of Kanniyappan is honest and he is aware of all the positive comments he has been getting. "I don't choose such characters. These stories choose me and they easily reach every section of the audience, where they easily relate to what I am trying to convey through my character," he begins.

The actor also tries to strike a fine balance between commercial movies, which he calls larger-than-life films. "A commercial film to me is something that works well with the audience and necessarily doesn't require fights and punch dialogues. Yes, I have been a part of few larger-than-life films because that would take me closer to people. But these are the stories, which will give me credibility in the longer run. In Marutham, we have spoken about a man in Ranipet who is affected by scam and how it takes a toll in his life," adds the actor.

The director of the film Gajendran says that the scam happened to his relations in his hometown. "I come from Ranipet and the incident occurred to people close to me during the lockdown. Their lands were auctioned out by banks and farmers there were not aware of this. I have made that into a story with its own commercial values. The movie has a strong message but we have ensured that it doesn't lag anywhere. And Vidaarth was my obvious choice to play the role. I had other options if he hadn't agreed. But I am glad that my obvious choice for an actor came on board Marutham," he says with a smile.

Vidhaarth reminisces about shooting days and remarks, "We shot for the film in Ranipet and only when we were filming, we realised that there were more people who were scammed. Their lands were auctioned too. It was helpful for me to understand my character of Kanniyappan more," he tells us.

Rakshana, who played a school girl in her maiden project Margazhi Thingal plays a mom to a kid in this film. "Despite being a rural character yet again, I agreed to do it because I want the audition to see my transition from a teenager in my first project to a mother and wife in my second film. I don't want to get into being stereotyped and I am exploring different genres," she opens up. Director Gajendran adds, "Several heroines shied away from playing a mother but Rakshana took it up and has justified it well."