Interview - Actor Vincent Asokan

Published in The Hindu Cinema Plus

Remember the television commercial for an online shopping portal which asks, in Hindi "Real life mein aisa hota hai kya?" Similarly, does menacing villains and fisticuffs at the drop of a hat, happen in real life? Does a lanky youngster in real life manage to beat up scores of well-built thugs with his bare hands? Well, that is celluloid for you. Everything that happens on the silver screen is larger than life and is meant purely to entertain the masses. After all, don't we all need an escape into a world of make-believe from the drudgery of humdrum life?

And, that's precisely what actor Vincent Asokan is good at. He would rather chase the good man (read: hero), rough up the damsel (read: heroine) into more distress and eventually get smashed to a pulp by the said hero. For, that's what the masses want and that's his profession - Villainy!

Since his introduction to the silver screen in 2004 in director A Venkatesh's Aei, Vincent Asokan has done that in close to 30 films. That's an average of 3 films a year! But, 2013 was different for Vincent as it must have been for other villains and thugs of the film industry. That was the year when, besides the odd 'Madurai-type-film', comedy and romance reared its head. "For the first time in my career, 2013 was a dull year with no releases, except a Kannada film, Lakshmi. But the bright side was the completion of two excellent films and the ongoing production of four others," says Vincent.

Bright year ahead

That makes six films ready or getting ready for release this year. And, Vincent is quite upbeat about them. "In Thottal Thodarum, directed by Cable Shankar, I play a negative role with a difference. I have absolutely no dialogues and the terror element is conveyed through menacing looks, facial expressions and actions. I was quite apprehensive when Shankar narrated the script, but I found a uniqueness in this characterisation which gave me the confidence to do the role. At the end of it all, personally, I feel that this will be one of the highlights of my career," confides Vincent. Thaman Kumar is the hero of Thottal Thodarum, with Vincent playing a hired assassin.

While, Vincent's role in Thotal Thodarum will come up for critical acclaim, the one he plays in director Ramesh Selvan's Thalaivan will take him back into mainstream villainy. "Thalaivan is a proper commercial film with all the right ingredients to warrant such a big budget production. It is a very well-made film in which I play a Don. BAS Bhaskaran in the hero. Ramesh Selvan has etched an extremely powerful character for me which takes me to action in locations such as Goa and Ooty/Coonoor," says Vincent.

Besides Thottal Thodarum and Thalaivan, Vincent has four other films, in almost completed status which will give him a variety of roles. "For instance, in Eppodum Vendraan, for director Sivashanmugham, I play a cameo role of a good cop. In Ennamo Nadakkuthu, director Rajapandi wanted me for a guest role as a boxer; I spar with actor Prabhu. But, there are two other films in which I am doing main villain roles that are ready for release. Director A. Venkatesh has given me a thug's role in Killadi which has Bharat as the hero. In Mayyam Kondein, director Arjunaraja has come up with an interesting script in which I play a village bad man to Dilip Kumar's hero."

Trend cycles

Changing trends do not worry him. Vincent feels that, as in any other industry, trends keep changing and there will always be a cycle. Consequently, in films, villains, heroes and heroines will keep changing their styles to keep with audience demands. "There have been instances when villains took to comic roles, or heroes took to negative roles. Mainstream heroines have done item numbers, too. Clearly demarcated roles are not the order of the day and we as actors have also to understand the needs of the audience and keep re-inventing ourselves. But, when it boils down to hard facts, villains have to beat up the hero and in turn get beaten up."

Does he perceive a change in trend from main stream movies to critically acclaimed small budget films with comedy and romance as the theme? "While that may be the case with so many comedies, romantic films and realistic stories doing the rounds, we must all understand that films are meant to entertain. And, to properly entertain the masses, there must be commercial elements - songs, dances, fights, thrills, good man, bad man, comedian, item numbers, car chases - the works. Obviously, these will be big budget films with big action stars, but these will also be box office successes, giving mass entertainment value. Films are larger than life and so will the hero, heroine and villain be. As long as there are good directors who come up with exciting scripts to portray his film's characters differently, all of us will have our work cut out properly," concludes Vincent Asokan, in a positive frame of mind, as he looks forward to his first Bollywood film with a current favourite director from the South.