Karthi’s Biriyani ready!

Actor Karthi, all set to woo the Telugu audience again with ‘Biriyani’, is surely a master strategist when it comes to promoting his films. He is undeterred by the thought that Bollywood Superstar Aamir Khan’s highly anticipated action-drama ‘Dhoom:3’ could be eating into his business as it releases the same day as ‘Biriyani’. “’Dhoom: 3’ will be limited to cities, but when you go to the interiors of South India, its spread won’t be significant. We have many screens to release our film and people too are waiting to catch it (laughs). We do promotions as hard as Yash Raj Films does,” smiles the actor in a chat-a-thon.

Dubbing it a ‘stylish entertainer with edge-of-the-seat thrills’, he says he has gone for a ‘complete makeover’. “I’ve lost three kilos and even sported contact lens for the role,” he says and continues, “It’s the story of two youngsters who are on their way to have biriyani. However, they are caught in a brawl and what follows is the film all about. The conspiracies that unravel after the scuffle make the film interesting. The second half moves at a breakneck speed and it is emotional too.”

Speaking about his character Sudheer, he shares, “I play an upper middle class urban guy, a Casanova. It was interesting to portray it as my real life has little connection to the role. My friends outside the industry are waiting to see how I went about it.”

His co-star Hansika, he believes will be a major asset to the movie. “When we’ve started the film she was chubby. When she surfaced on the sets after the first schedule, I was in for a surprise. I felt her younger sister dropped by the sets only to realise that it was Hansika. She lost 12 kilos in the meanwhile. We had to order for another set of costumes as the first ones hardly fitted her. Though continuity was an issue, we’ve managed it in the editing,” he smiles wide.

The suave star has sung a number for the film as he wanted to be a part of composer Yuvan Shankar Raja’s 100th film album. “It was Venkat’s idea to make my co-star Negi and me croon. I was game as it’s my buddy’s (Yuvan’s) 100th film. I’ve did a couple of mistakes for the Tamil version since the song was in a high pitch. However, Yuvan liked it. He said that I sounded like an amateur singer. But for the Telugu number, I ensured that I fixed it. I had a ball singing in Telugu. My brother Suriya felt that my song had a distinct SP Balu flavour to it,” he recalls.

While no Telugu scripts have interested him till now, he is open for a multi-starrer with his brother. “The script should be compelling since the expectations on the film will be humongous. We’ve been through scripts but nothing pleasing has come our way till now,” he points out.

Has marriage brought any changes in him? “Obviously. In fact, both the partners will feel change. I’ve even lost some hair (giggles). When guy says it’s tough for him, the girl says it’s tough for her too. Marriage is tough and the first two years of marriage where you understand each other are important. I believe marriage completes life. One has to go through the process to mature,” he observes.

The actor has already commenced shooting for his next, a ‘realistic, experimental film’. “It’s about how ward politics changes the life of a guy. We are shooting at real locations, i.e. North Chennai. The area so far has been projected for its crime rate but it’s not the same anymore. Ranjith is directing it and Catherine Teresa is paired opposite me,” he signs off.