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Exclusive | Vijay Sethupathi on 'Kaattaan' And Working With Manikandan: 'He Lets You Be, That’s The Magic'
The actor opens up about the friendship that powers his collaboration with filmmaker Manikandan.
A month before the cameras rolled on the upcoming JioHotstar series Kaattaan, Vijay Sethupathi drove down to Usilampatti, a town an hour away from Madurai, upon getting a call from director M. Manikandan. What awaited was not a table read or rehearsal, but some vetti (free) time, to drive around and talk.
To anyone else, this may sound like a casual hangout, but to Sethupathi, it is work.
The actor has long believed that the kind of understanding required between a director and an actor cannot be manufactured on the spot; it must develop gradually by getting to know each other. Despite calling it “free time”, the hours he spends with these directors are anything but.
In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, comparing the dynamic to a friendship, he said, “If you know somebody for a month, you know you have a subconscious understanding of what that person likes and how he thinks, you know that it will happen automatically.”
His approach to the characters he plays and their stories is deliberately open. Understanding the director’s vision, he reiterates, is always the main focus. Everything else, the choices, instincts, improvised moments, orbits around it or is a result of it. He is, however, careful to distinguish the trust he puts in his directors from blind faith. “It is not blind because I know them. I know their capabilities, their sincerity, their responsibility.”
It is this philosophy that has shaped some of his most compelling performances in contemporary Indian cinema. And nowhere else has it had the time to grow deeper than his relationship with Manikandan, whom he has known since 2008.
By the time Muthu Engira Kaattaan came together, they had a solid foundation of trust. What Sethupathi describes with great admiration, of Manikandan on set, is a director who believes restraint is a creative instrument. “He doesn’t do anything, that’s the magic. He just lets you be,” Sethupathi said. The direction comes in precise, minimal words as casually as one would talk to a friend. He believes Manikandan has cracked the code on how to tap an actor. Their other collaborations include Kadaisi Vivasayi (2022) and Aandavan Kattalai (2016).
What remains between them after all these years is the element of surprise that comes from the ideas that sprout in the moment. “While performing a scene, we can’t really control every nuance, we just take it, and we perform, and whatever happens in between the lines comes automatically”, he adds about still being able to surprise the director, 18 years in.
Watch the full interview with Vijay Sethupathi on The Hollywood Reporter India's YouTube channel.