Bagavathi Perumal Interview: I miss playing a villain like Berlin
It's rare for an actor to have back-to-back films becoming hits at the box office within just days of each other. It is even more rare to have the actor play two distinct roles and find success in both. Actor Bagavathi Perumal, who has been basking in the successes of Gangers, and now Tourist Family, credits it to the 'blessings' that he has been receiving in his life. And a couple of such recent blessings include fulfilling his lifelong dream of working with Mani Ratnam and Sundar C. 'After Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom, Sundar sir invited me and Rajkumar to his house, and expressed his interest in casting us in Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru. But I couldn't do it as I was more inclined towards direction. It took a decade for a similar opportunity to come my way,' he explains, adding, 'In fact, I apologised for missing the opportunity, and he was magnanimous enough to say that I was a great performer and the audience would miss me if I chose to become a director.'
The actor earned plaudits for his performance as a timid police officer in Gangers, and held his own against the legendary Vadivelu. "Just like how you need many players in a football match to reach the goal, you need multiple people for comedy to land. I have seen all of Vadivelu sir's comedies, and I, just like everyone else, use quite a lot of his references in my daily life. But only when you work with him, you understand that he is a master in his craft," he shares. "I was stunned to see his face changing with every word. If he was in Bollywood or Hollywood, he would have become world famous."
Bagavathi's filmography comprises characters starkly varied from one another, each exploring a different facet and behaviour altogether. "This is solely possible because of the script. I try to choose roles that are different, but I don't think Super Deluxe's Berlin and Thunivu's Rajesh are very different. In fact, whenever I slightly stepped out of my character in Thunivu, H Vinoth would tell me that I am stepping into Berlin's shoes," says Bagavathi, who reveals an important learning from the filming on Gangers. "When I pointed out to Sundar C sir that it is illogical for my character to do a particular act, he just laughed and said that logic doesn't play a prominent role in his films. When directors are clear about what they are expecting from the characters, you also deliver unique roles," says the actor.
This is evident even when directors are clear about casting a particular actor from the scripting stage, underlines Bagavathi. "That's what happened in many films, including Vasan Bala's Monica, O My Darling. Sometimes, the inverse has also worked in favour. Take Blue Star for example. Such instances reinstate the belief and validation that we are acting well," he says, before going on to share another detail on Killer Soup. " Abhishek Chaubey wanted to cast me in the web series after watching my performance in Super Deluxe, but I wasn't inspired by the character he gave me. I told him that I was okay to act even in smaller roles. It was then he pitched me the detective Kiran Nadar role. I was impressed and immediately said yes. If directors don't give me such characters, where will I go and perform?"
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