There have been highs and lows: Srikanth

Srikanth made his acting debut in K’town with the smash hit, Roja Koottam (2002). Then, he went on to do films like April Madhathil (2002), Parthiban Kanavu (2003), and so on. He sounds confident and cheerful though he has had more failures than success, thanks to his maiden production venture Nambiyaar, which hit the screens recently.

He tells, “Everyone asks me how I stay positive. I think it’s more about being patient and persistent. Though production seemed like a risk initially, I learnt so much throughout the process. We were supposed to release the film much earlier, but it got delayed for some reasons. I had to forego many acting offers as I spent solid time on my home production.”

In Nambiyaar, he plays an aspiring IAS candidate who’s always discouraged and overlooked. “The story is about a person transforming into what he aspires to become. Sunaina plays Saroja Devi. My wife Vandana made her debut as a costume designer. This film is special to me in many ways,” he grins.

As a producer, he’s unhappy because Nambiyaar was given a U/A certificate. “My film is a clean rom-com with some fantasy elements in it. I am still wondering why it hasn’t been given a ‘U’ certificate. There are no typical villain characters, per se. I really don’t know how the system works,” he explains.

Though Srikanth has been in the cinema circuit for more than a decade doing roles in multiple languages, his priority remains Kollywood. “I don’t want to restrict myself, and am open to any language. To me, the script always comes first. I did films in Telugu and Malayalam when good scripts came my way. But I love Tamil films more. I am here to prove my versatility as an artiste,” he smiles.

Citing his film Bose (2004) as an example, he says, “It ran for 100 days in Telugu, but in Tamil the response wasn’t good. I felt terrible, but I continued to do films. Nanban (2012) happened after a few years and it was a huge hit! There have been highs and lows. But I don’t let disappointments bog me. You have to be persistent, something that has helped me out over the years.”

The actor’s last Kollywood outing was the horror flick Sowcarpettai (2016), where he was seen alongside Raai Laxmi. “When a film fails at the box-office, everyone blames the actor, but there are other reasons for it too which are often comfortably ignored. I ventured into films when I knew nothing about acting. I hope there’s lot more to achieve and I’ll somehow succeed,” he says.

Up next, he’s working on Samiyattam, which is the remake of the Telugu hit Swamy Ra Ra (2013). Before wrapping up the conversation he says, “I have a lengthy list of directors, who I want to work with like Maniratnam, Shankar, Bala, Karu  Palaniappan, Selvaraghavan, Ameer and Mysskin.

(The piece was originally written for The New Indian Express)