Vijay Sethupathi: ‘I Didn’t Think a South Indian Face Like Mine Could Cross The Tamil Film Industry’
The actor discusses how his curiosity for different cultures has led him to do films across five languages.
For Vijay Sethupathi, looking back at his career is acknowledging the number of full circles he seems to have completed. Moments that seemed like mere life experiences years ago have now become the foundation for his work across multiple Indian film industries.
Now known for his versatility across films in different languages, Sethupathi questioned how far cinema could take him initially. Early in his career, he expressed this concern to director M. Manikandan (who also directed his latest project, Kaattaan) while working with him on a short film.
In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, he recalls telling the director, “As a technician, you could go anywhere in the world and work. But as a South Indian face, I didn't think I could cross the Tamil industry as an actor.”
However, the bridge to his future had started building years before that. During a stint working in Dubai, he remembers his boss giving him an ultimatum: “Count the money in your hands and learn Hindi quickly.” At the time, he spent about six months learning the language. What he never realised was that it would eventually help his entry into Hindi cinema.
Today, those circles are complete. Having started his film journey through a Kannada film, Sethupathi has now worked across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. He believes that working in different languages is an experience of immersion. “To go somewhere and understand the people, language and culture, to be one among them and know their story, is a different kind of experience,” he explains.
Exploring new cultures is not something he wants to stop exploring anytime soon. He recalls receiving an offer to work on a Gujarati film, and while working on the film Gandhi Talks (2025), he even expressed interest to director Kishor Pandurang Belekar about potentially exploring Marathi cinema. For him, it is the story that matters most.
Watch the full interview with Vijay Sethupathi on The Hollywood Reporter India's YouTube channel.