Actor Sarath Kumar Interview: On playing Alzheimer’s patient in The Smile Man, cop roles, Siddharth 40 | EXCLUSIVE

Even after years into being a full-fledged actor, producer, and politician, Sarathkumar never forgets to enquire about where I studied my journalism, and share his two cents on the field, as I meet him at his office in Chennai ahead of his film release, The Smile Man. “I started out as a journalist, and we also have some plans in digital journalism in some months, so let’s see,” the veteran actor says as we begin our chat about his upcoming film.

Sarathkumar talks about The Smile Man

With The Smile Man being his 150th film, Sarath Kumar reflects, “Facing the camera has been the same through these years, but I guess the technology has changed. I would say it was frugal then and easier now. With digital, you can take more takes and experiment which was not the case with the film era. Now, the directors have also got the liberty to do a greater number of shots, expand their ideas about films, and bring wholesome movies now. They can play around with their imagination, but as actors it has been the same.”

The conversation veers toward how the actor sees the directors of today’s times can experiment and play around, enlarge their ideas with the help of expanded resources. It is also a new learning on how the current generation of filmmakers deals with actors. “From how they narrate stories, script reading, and what they look out from actors are elaborately discussed now. In earlier days, we go to sets and only then get dialogue papers. But now, the script reading is done even before the first day of shoot. You know your portions and have already prepared your diction, delivery, body language and style before facing the camera,” explains Sarathkumar.

Playing a cop, once again

In The Smile Man, Sarathkumar plays a cop. But the khaki uniform is not new to the actor who has donned it in recent films like Por Thozhil, Paramporul, Hit List, Nirangal Moondru, and now The Smile Man. “So, the police uniform might be the same, but the process of the movie itself was different. The guy from Por Thozhil was abused in his childhood and his approach towards society itself is different and hard. In Paramporul, he is grey and uses situations to his advantage. When it comes to Nirangal Moondru, he is totally corrupt but has a soft corner towards his son. It also had a comical side. With The Smile Man, we have this cop suffering from Alzheimer’s and memory loss who has to investigate a case. This cop has just got one year to solve a case while his memories too are fading,” he adds.

While playing to his physicality and bulking up, given that Sarathkumar comes from a body-building background, comes off easy for the actor, playing an Alzheimer’s patient is a mental process. Asked how he channeled the process from within, Sarathkumar says, “I have got a personal experience because my mother was patient of Alzheimer’s. I have gone through that, the days she remembers and days she doesn’t. Sometimes she asks me who am I, and it’s sad and difficult. Probably, the film might tend to exaggerate a bit, but we did add some shivers to show some quality to the performance.”

Also read: Smile Man teaser OUT: Sarathkumar plays an Alzheimer's patient in his 150th film 

Sarathkumar, who is now shuttling between playing a supporting actor, and lead roles, says he reads the whole script before taking up a project. “I am not doing guest/cameo roles, apart from a few ones. I have taken up important roles along with other heroes. Be it even Varisu, I have taken up a pivotal role with father-son relationship. Nothing had a demeaning role. So, script reading and knowing the roles, is important for me to know how a film would shape up, and only then I take up the role.”

Sarathkumar, who is playing a crucial role in the upcoming Siddharth 40, says, “The film will show me from the age of 35 to 80. Every phase of my life is shown, the ambition to build a home, and there comes along my wife, first child and second child, pressures from society, and more. Both myself and wife in the film, Devyani are ageing. It is a character that is changing, both physically and mentally.”

Also read: Siddharth 40: These actors famous during the 90s join the cast of Sri Ganesh film

From seeing heroes who can withstand what may come and brandish machoism, Tamil cinema has progressed showing how men too can be vulnerable, onscreen. Sarathkumar too agrees with this, as he continues to mention that any human is vulnerable and has space for emotions. “People do have emotions, and now characters are becoming too close to reality. The relationship I share with my father, is now every different from how it is now. A good or bad change cannot be commented on, but things have changed. The idea of macho man has already changed now.”

Playing characters beyond what is expected

The actor also throws light on how in recent days people have begun to look at the character differently from an actor. “People note who has done their roles better, and how the characters have shaped up. They also notice actors beyond the heroes, giving encouragement to the team work, and recognition. Take the example of George Mariyan in Kaithi who stood out and held a position of performance.”

Even with 150 films to his credit and many on the way, Sarathkumar feels that there is still much left unexplored within himself. He explains, “Sometimes I see films and you long to do such roles. An actor should be given challenges and directors should think in different formats. That is how Kanchana came into being after Raghava Lawrence asked me to play a transwoman. No one had thought of me that way and I even feared if the film would be a flop. It worked ultimately, and even Radhika who is a big critic, came up to me and said how much she liked it.”

Sarathkumar feels that cinema has come a long way from being skeptical of experimentation and instead sticking to a song-fight template, to now exploring the range of storylines. He adds that even as the industry has changed, the economic conditions of industry and theatrical players have become more important now.

As we end the conversation, Sarathkumar says that the world has been changing fast, and the attention span has been reduced given how all of us have million things to do. “We are always looking for something new and exciting. Things have been changing and to adapt with it, is what we must do. God has given me the relevance of Sarathkumar to the industry and that feels nice,” he signs off.