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.