Actor Vishal on playing a constable in ‘Laththi’ and his obsession with action films
(Originally published in The Hindu on December 20, 2022)
Vishal solidified his image as a serious actor long ago. On-screen, he plays to his strengths and manages to surprise film-goers now and then. Off-screen, he is a vociferous public figure. In recent years, action roles that demand a lot from the multihyphenate star have kept him busy. These projects further add to his action-hero persona — you won’t find many posters with him smiling; he is belted and bleeding in three of his latest stills! And, in the way he talks about Laththi, which is set to hit screens on December 22, you get a sense that this project means more than another action film to him.
“It’s the highest-budgeted film of my career,” says the actor. But it wasn’t the budget that demanded the effort. As was the case in his previous film Veeramae Vaagai Soodum, Laththi demanded a lot of physical effort, resulting in Vishal even sustaining some serious injuries during its making. “After 109 stitches, I lost the count,” he says, adding that he now feels immune to pain. “Moreover, it was all worth it since we are giving quite a new experience through these action sequences,” he adds. But, what was that captivating about Laththi, directed by debutant Vinoth Kumar? “First is the fact that this hero was a police constable and there is a father-son dynamic, which is highly underexplored.” Vishal understands that, predominantly, Tamil cinema cops have either been the tentpole mass heroes or corrupt antagonists inflicting violence. Laththi’s cop is different, he says. “I have never played a constable, and the writing fleshes out his life quite realistically. It gave me so much scope to act; to show the audience a Vishal they haven’t seen yet.”
The second drawing factor was
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