Right under the spotlight

Actor Karthi is a happy man. His latest film Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru has not only set the cash registers ringing but has also been getting widespread praise from different segments of the society. The film is based on a real-life incident of a team of Tamil Nadu police officers who brought to justice  dreaded dacoits who were wanted in connection with a number of brutal killings and robberies in seven states across the nation. The film is being hailed as one of the finest cop films in Tamil so far.

Talking about the film,  Karthi says, "This is a story that came searching for me. I think the cops who worked on this case must have resigned themselves to the thought that the world will never ever get to know about their hard work. Maybe that is the reason why the story kept coming back again and again to us. First, it came as a newspaper report to director Vinoth, and then it came to me at different times."

The actor is all praise for his producer S R Prabhu, who, he says, handled several problems that the team had to encounter while making the film. "It was a very demanding script and we shot it in Rajasthan. But Prabhu had a foresight about the problems the team would encounter in  this long schedule and had already made suitable arrangements. But even then, there were several problems that kept arising now and then. For instance, we had to get permission from different people to shoot the sequences. Each place had a different leader from whom we had to get permission. Also, Prabhu ensured that the entire team was flown to Rajasthan rather than having half the team travel by trains. Also, he made sure that the entire team was provided good food the entire time as he knew that the only relief we had on such a gruelling schedule was food."

In the film, the team of cops launch a nationwide hunt for the dacoits. In the process, they go from state to state checking fingerprints of established criminals to see if any of them match the prints of the criminals who have committed a series of gruesome crimes in Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, the man who plays the fingerprint expert in the film, Dhananjayan, is a cop in real life too. In fact, Dhananjayan was the fingerprint expert who travelled with the real team that cracked the difficult case.

Talking about Dhananjayan, Karthi says, "He has acted well in the film. He would often explain to us about the aspects of reading fingerprints while shooting for the film. There is a sequence in the film that shows the fingerprint expert seeing an animal in the fingerprints of individuals. That is actually true. If you remember, the fingerprints of the criminal we were looking for in the film resembled that of a cobra. The information Dhananjayan sir gave about how the real team went about tracking the criminals was very helpful in recreating those sequences."

Karthi also makes it clear that it is not just gratitude that he feels for the entire police force but  also admiration. "Dhananjayan sir would often say while shooting that all that they would get while they were working on the case was just a jalebi and a glass of tea in the morning. They would work long hours going through fingerprints one by one to check if there were any matches. One cannot do such work just for the sake of salary. That level of commitment and dedication is possible only when one loves and respects their profession," he says.

The actor is very pleased that it is not just the public who are impressed with the film but also the cops who actually solved the case almost two decades ago. Says Karthi,"Several police officers spoke to me after watching this film. They congratulated us for making this film and expressed their happiness. More importantly, one senior official who was part of that operation watched the film and admitted that he was moved by it."

Now that this film is done, Karthi is gearing up for his next movie. Giving details of his upcoming project, Karthi says, "It is a big family film that is set in a village. The film is being produced by my brother Suriya's firm 2D Entertainment. It is being directed by Pandiraj sir. The film will have Sayyeshaa as the female lead. Sathyaraj sir too plays an important role in the film."

The actor, whose career graph is heading northward, has a couple of requests for parents. Says Karthi, "Today, our kids get upset for even the smallest of things. It is not important to buy an iPhone or an iPad for our kids. What we need to teach our children today is the fact that failures are an integral part of life. Only then will they grow stronger. Today, if we chide a youngster for coming in late to work, they don't even turn up for work the next day. They can't even subject themselves to a small correction. Instead of buying them gadgets, spend some quality time with them."

He adds, "The other issue that I want to raise is the amount of pressure that we put on kids. It is that time of the year again when exams are around the corner. Parents tend to put pressure on children saying, 'I am struggling to make you study. Please score high marks. We cannot afford to pay huge sums of money to get a medical college seat.' Please don't put pressure on children. My dad has never asked me how much I scored. He would say, 'If you study well, your life will be good.' I understood what he meant and began studying well. As I have a daughter myself, these thoughts keep coming back to me. We need to guide our children correctly," the actor signs off.