I have never compromised on my ethics: Vishnuu Vishal

Vishnuu Vishal is among the few Kollywood actors who like to take up films of different genres. Quite content with the choices he has made till date, the actor, who also turned producer with his last outing, opens up about the diverse experiences he had while working on his upcoming projects, including Ratsasan, which releases this Friday. The actor gets chatty about dabbling in different genres, why he likes to be a part of commercial movies, the dilemma in choosing scripts, and more with us.Excerpts:
The teaser and trailer of Ratsasan have received a good response. How eagerly are you looking forward to the movie?
It’s a film which is close to my heart. I’m playing an out-and-out cop in it — I will be seen in the police uniform for most of the time in this investigation thriller. My father, a police officer, was happy after watching the movie. I didn’t choose Ratsasan, the film actually chose me. Director Ramkumar, with whom I had earlier worked for Mundasupatti, told me that he had a story in his mind, which has the protagonist as a 40-year-old character. Eventually, I listened to the story after he tweaked it a bit. That’s when I felt I could do the lead role if certain things are changed. So, finally, I was destined to play lead in the project. The cop I essayed in the movie is different from the regular ones we see often on celluloid — the character is someone who is averse to being a police. He is a simple officer with natural body language. I think this is the first film which has me locking horns with a villain. The antagonist is actually an intelligent psycho.
A title like Ratsasan with a psycho villain in it — to what extent do you think the movie can attract the family audience?
Like I said, we changed a few things in the story to cater to all sections of the audience. But we made changes in a manner that the impact remains the same. Moreover, the movie is devoid of any gory scenes, though the viewers can sense fear at several instances. We have ensured that the film is a family-friendly movie. There’s also a message in it regarding the safety of women and young children.
Did you undergo any kind of preparation for your character?
I’ll be seen in short hair in the film, perhaps for the first time in my career. Though initially sceptical, I was convinced when Ram showed me a sketch of my look. For almost 10 days, I’d to go through newspaper articles pertaining to psychopaths which drained me physically and emotionally. But it helped me in emoting well.
Of late, many movies are releasing with psychopaths as antagonists. How is this going to be different?
This film has given justification for his act — in the sense that the story explores his past and the reasons which’ve made him an anti-social. We’re confident of delivering what we promised through the teaser and trailer. Amala Paul, who’s played the female lead, in the role of a teacher, said post-dubbing, that it’s one of the best movies she has ever done.
Tell us about your other projects…
I have Chella’s Silukkuvarupatti Singam, which has Regina Cassandra and Oviya, another fun film which has me donning khaki. My film with Prabu Solomon is an intense one. A bilingual, I’d to shoot with elephants, something I never thought would happen as I’m scared of animals. I breathed a sigh of relief watching kumki as such characters never came to me. A project under Dhanush’s production, a yet-to-be-titled Tamil-Telugu bilingual directed by R Venkatesan, Ezhil’s Jagajala Killadi and the long-pending Idam Porul Yeval are also in the pipeline.
How do you choose films?
There are many scripts which I loved during the narration, but have rejected some because I wasn’t sure of the reception from audience. Sometimes, a film which you think is average gets a good reception at the box office, and sometimes vice-versa. At times, things are just not in our control, which is why I believe it isn’t good to trash a movie completely without mentioning its positives.
Do you have ‘dos’ and ‘donts’ while committing to a project?
I ensure that there are no vulgar or sexist jokes in my movies. There’re instances where I’d requested my co-stars or others to stay away from it because I believe cinema influences people. In fact, I’d have had a bigger market today if I’d said ‘’yes’’ to some of the projects which I rejected. There are people who have told me that eventually I will compromise on my policies. But I’m sure I will never go back on my ethics.”