'I watched 'Jab We Met' 300 times'

Just 24 years of age, Chinna Talapathy Bharath is probably one of the youngest and the biggest stars of South Indian cinema. With his latest movie Kandein Kadhalai, the remake of the Hindi hit Jab We Met proving to be a superhit, he has just strengthened his reign in the South.

“It’s quite tough to remake a Hindi film in Tamil,” he says. “It’s different when one remakes a Telugu film in Tamil because the sensibilities are the same, but the same cannot be said for a North to South remake. So I think the entire credit goes to the director,” he adds.

Though he was quite confident of the script that worked so well in Bollywood, Bharath reveals that he and co-star Tamanna were initially hesitant about the songs. “The songs of Jab We Met are so beautiful. So Tamanna and I were a bit reluctant when we found out that the tunes won’t be the same in Tamil.” But Bharath is now is love with the melodies composed by maestro Vidyasagar, which are doing great on the charts as well.

Not many know that Bharath watched Jab We Met around 300 times to prepare for the role of Shaktivel, a rich businessman. “Even during the shoots, I would watch the film on my laptop and observe Shahid’s body language,” he notes. “I had seen the movie twice in the theatre anyway when it had released,” he adds.

No wonder he has been given the title of Chinna Thalapathy in Tamil Nadu. “It’s a special honour given to me by my fans. I am so thankful to them and I will try my best to live up to their expectations in every film of mine,” he exclaims. Does he have plans to venture into Bollywood? He smiles, “It’s a huge market, and when opportunity knocks, I would definitely take it up. But I would love to do more Telugu and Malayalam films apart from Tamil.”

A huge fan of Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan, Bharath looks for an entertainment quotient in any script. His next project is an action-comedy titled Thambikku Indha Ooru opposite Sana Khan, which will release during Pongal. Then there is Thiruthani with director Perarasu. “I worked with him in Palani and we are repeating the combination. It’s a mass entertainer,” he explains.  

From sharing screen space with five heroes in debut Boys, to a superhit solo star in Kadal and Kandein Kadalai, Bharath has surely come a long way. He agrees modestly, “I am very happy with my career graph, it has been slow and steady.” Even when he is not shooting, Bharath involves himself in the post production work of his films. Whenever he gets free time, he works out as well. He is also a big movie-buff.

“Hangover was one of the recent films I saw, and it’s fantastic. I would love to do it in Tamil,” he notes. Is the industry listening?