Yes. Once again, Tamil cinema is going back to directors like those of the seventies and the eighties when films were described as a Balachander film or a Bharatiraja film or a Balu Mahendra film rather than films of certain actors.

Even when he had a Kamal Haasan or a Rajnikanth in his films, those were Balachander films. In the 90s there was nobody other than Mani Ratnam who dominated.

Right now, it is changing dramatically; Mysskin, Venkat Prabhu, Sashi Kumar, Vijay, Ameer and so on are making forceful films. A film like Subramaniyapuram released with Dasavatharam and becomes an equally big hit!

Have Tamil filmmakers started looking at you differently after the success of Poi Solla Porom?

I hope so. In my next film, Ninaithale Inikkum, which is a remake of the Malayalam film Classmates, I play a negative character, the one played by Jayasurya in the original. This is very, very exciting for me. Shades of grey have to be explored in Tamil cinema.

I have worked in two Indian English, very edgy projects in the last two years, one of which is Chaurahen made by Rajashree Ojha. My role was that of homosexual coming out of the closet. I did a television project with Revathy and a short film with Rajiv Menon. This was how I kept myself engaged as an actor.

Incidentally, Poi Solla Porom has four theatre trained actors -- Nedumudi Venu, Nasser, Delhi Ganesh and Mouli. I think Tamil filmmakers are looking at actors from a different perspective.

Also Read: Striking fear with Achamundu! Achamundu!

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