Vivek - A class Act

A friend of mine asked me viveks parvai nu blog vechitu oru blog kooda vivek pathi illaiyaenu. Andha natpirkaaga indha pagudhi:

Thanks to “Sivaji”, Vivek’s career is looking up. He tells sreedhar pillai why satire, not slapstick, works for the urban audience

As the Rajnikanth-starrer Sivaji celebrates its 100th day, the man who is smiling the most is Vivek! The film has resurrected his career that was going through a rough patch, thanks to his decision to turn hero with Solli Adippen, which is still in the cans. During this period, contemporaries such as Vadivelu have zoomed past him and a fresh set of comedians has emerged on the scene. Post-Sivaji, Vivek has bounced back and regained lost ground with his core audience — city-based youth and kids who simply love to repeat the punch lines from the film. Sample this: “Sixukkappuram sevenda, Sivajikappuram evenda?”

“Sivaji has given me a new lease of life; it was teamwork that made it possible. Rajni sir was magnanimous and he understood the importance of how good humour can boost a film, while Shankar saw to it that my character stayed on till the end of the film.” Thanks to Sivaji, Vivek has now become sought-after as the hero’s side-kick, rather than being part of an incidental comedy track .

Last week, he was roped in to be part of two big movies — Kuruvi with Vijay and Kandasamy with Vikram. Vivek says comedy has been an essential ingredient for the success of a Tamil film from the days of N. S. Krishnan. “Tell me one super hit Tamil film which did not have humour?” asks Vivek and continues, “NSK, Thangavelu, Chandrababu, Nagesh, Thengai Sreenivasan, Venniraadai Moorthy, Surulirajan, Y.G. Mahendra, Goundamani and Senthil have made people laugh for generations. Everyone had a unique style and was successful. Today, Vadivelu and I carry on the good work of making people forget their worries and having a hearty laugh.”

Vivek agrees that his kind of humour works best with the urban audience as he tries to combine comedy with creating awareness about social issues. Compared to other comedians in Tamil cinema, Vivek is more a satirist than a slapstick comedian. His comedy tracks are drawn from everyday life. Says the comedian with his trademark smile: “I learn a lot by observing people. Tamil and English newspapers are my biggest source for comedy tracks along with news channels. Whenever I get a chance, I would like to point out the social and civic issues that have to be addressed by the common man. You will invariably find a message in my comedy.”

What does he have to say about the charge that his comedy fails to strike a chord in the rural areas because of an overdose of English in his dialogues? Vivek retorts, “Do you know that some countries lag behind India because of the people’s lack of knowledge of English? A week ago, when I was in California to raise funds for the Adyar Cancer Institute, I was overwhelmed by the response I received there. Most of them wanted me to repeat the dialogues from my films. Millions of Tamils are doing extremely well outside Tamil Nadu, because they can speak and write English.”

Though Vivek grew up in small towns such as Tirunelveli and Madurai, he spent a good part of his life in Chennai, which shaped his attitude and outlook.

So, what’re his next projects? “I’m doing a village film with Raj Kiran, titled Alanganallur, where I speak chaste Tamil!” He is also busy with a dozen films featuring superstars as well as newcomers.

As far as his launch film as hero, Solli Adippen, is concerned, it is likely to release by the end of this year.

Courtesy: The Hindu !