No Thalapathy Vijay, no movies - Lal Salaam actor Vikranth reveals flip side of nepotism

Actor Vikranth is quite upbeat about his upcoming movie Lal Salaam as he hopes this film will elevate his stature in the film industry to a whole new level. he's related to seasoned filmmaker SA Chandrasekhar and is Thalapathy Vijay's cousin. Even though he had no trouble landing his first few films, his career never took off like Vijay's.

In the run-up to the release of Lal Salaam," Vikranth reflected on his struggles and how he never relied on Vijay's popularity to further his career. He noted that in the last 17 years, he missed many good projects because he rejected requests from filmmakers to involve Vijay in some capacity in those movies.

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Vikranth rejected offers to leverage Vijay's stardom

"Many asked me to bring Vijay anna to audio launch events, convince him to do a cameo, put out a tweet, appear in a song, and so on. I said no to all of them," Vikranth recalled. He also mentioned that Vijay had already done enough for his family, and he didn't intend to piggyback on the former's popularity.

Vikranth also wished Vijay well on starting a new political party, Tamilaga Vetri Kalagam, while clarifying that he had no aspirations in politics. "He's (Vijay) at the peak of his stardom, and he is leaving that behind to focus on full-time politics. It's clear that he wants to achieve something big in politics," he added.

Lal Salaam marks new phase in Vikranth's career

Vikranth revealed that he was on the verge of giving up his desire to pursue acting after failing to make a mark in the film industry even after so many years. However, just in time, he received a phone call from filmmaker Aishwarya Rajinikanth, pulling him right back into the mix. 

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Vikranth plays one of the lead roles along with Vishnu Vishal in Lal Salaam. Directed by Aishwarya, the film also stars Superstar Rajinikanth in an extended cameo. 

Set against a communally-charged backdrop, Lal Salaam also stars Vignesh, Livingston, Senthil, Jeevitha, K. S. Ravikumar and Thambi Ramaiah.

Lal Salaam is due in cinemas on February 9. 

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