Exclusive | Mari Selvaraj: It's My Duty To Convince My Actor Of Their Character's Ideologies

For Mari Selvaraj, filmmaking has never been about ease. After five films, he admits the process doesn’t get simpler; it only demands more patience and clarity. But beyond the logistics and long hours, what tests him is something most audiences never see – working with actors whose political or ideological beliefs may be very different from the characters they inhabit.

“An actor might believe in a certain ideology,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter India in an interview. “But when I explain a scene, it becomes my duty to convince them of what my character believes in.” It isn’t confrontation, he explains, but persuasion. The challenge lies in helping an actor temporarily step outside their own worldview and inhabit someone else’s truth. "You have to command 500 people on the sets to contribute towards one vision. And all those people have their own mindsets."

Selvaraj’s films, from Pariyerum Perumal (2018) to Karnan (2021), are deeply rooted in themes of identity, power, and resistance. They are political by nature, but he insists the conversations on set can’t become battlegrounds. “Even if the actor’s ideology is opposite to mine, I have to create a space where the story comes first,” he says.

That space, however, is delicate. “We have to create an atmosphere that allows the vision to exist,” he says. “There will always be obstacles — weather, budgets, moods — but the hardest thing is keeping everyone moving toward the same goal.”

Selvaraj sees filmmaking as an act of negotiation, between belief and performance, vision and practicality. And while he knows that in the end only success is remembered, he never forgets the human effort it takes to reach that point.

Mari Selvaraj made his directorial debut with Pariyerum Perumal, a film that redefined Tamil cinema’s approach to caste and identity. He followed it with Karnan (2021), led by Dhanush, which combined myth and rebellion. His third feature, Maamannan (2023), starring Vadivelu, Fahadh Faasil, and Keerthy Suresh, examined power and politics through the lens of representation. His next film Bison, starring Dhruv Vikram and Anupama Parameswaran, will be out in theatres on October 17.