Samuthirakani is back to doing what he does best. Few actors have embodied fatherhood in Tamil cinema as consistently and endearingly as the actor-director, who has anchored father-son relationships with films such as Dhanush’s Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014) and Sivakarthikeyan’s Don (2022). He is back to now playing a dad in Prime Video’s Isakapatnam. This time, though, as a girl dad.
The depiction here will be extremely different from the other roles he’s done, he assures, acknowledging his turn as the nuanced father in Tamil cinema. The actor will be seen as Naidu, a stoic father who doesn’t see eye to eye with his daughter. Tamil actress Aishwarya Rajesh, who has shared screen space with Samuthirakani in films such as Vada Chennai, plays the role.
“I play a father to Aishu (Aishwarya Rajesh), but we don’t have a lot of heartfelt emotional scenes as most father-daughter do,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter India. “This left me with a desire to do more such roles with her because I admire the person that she is.”
The upcoming action drama charts the various power-hungry characters that make up the world of Isakapatnam, a fictitious port town in coastal Andhra Pradesh. The actor, who has been acting and directing films since the early 2000s, has always followed a distinct philosophy when it comes to choosing projects.
“I usually listen to a story only at a basic level. Because no matter how much you narrate a story, it changes when you make it. Sometimes the narration is extraordinary, but it might not be reflected on the screen.” In the case of Isakapatnam, it’s his character that instantly drew him. “So I look at the bare bones of a script. I loved that I played a character who rises to the top from nothing. Beyond stories, I always look at the people I work with. When I saw Aishu and Sunil [the Telugu actor], I knew I could trust them. The series has come out 1000 times better than what I expected.”
Following a popular Telugu debut in Allu Arjun’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), Samuthirakani has been steadily part of several Telugu projects, including Dasara (2023), Hanu-Man (2024), and Game Changer (2025). The actor has had an enviable oeuvre of characters in the past few years, including but not limited to a world-weary father in Don, a conniving don in Vada Chennai and an angry yet impenetrable filmmaker in Kaantha. He will also soon return to the world of Vetri Maaran’s ‘Vada Chennai’ in his upcoming film Arasan.
Yet, there remains one thing that has eluded him.
“I came into the industry to do comedy,” the actor recalls with a laugh. “I would act out so many scenes in auditions and no roles came by. Frustrated, I decided to leave this desire behind and become an assistant director.”
More than 15 years later, filmmaker Sasikumar suggested he give acting one more chance. “He told me to act as a villain in Subramaniapuram (2008). But I still haven't done a proper comedy role yet! I am waiting for it. If I do get such an opportunity, my purpose would be complete.”