Actor Sivakarthikeyan is all smiles and gives no hint of pressure to sustain the blockbuster success of his previous outing, Amaran, with his recent film Madharaasi. He believes that a film succeeds and fails due to multiple reasons, and his responsibility is limited. “I can only listen to a script and see to it that I do the job the director envisioned for me. Ensuring my producer gets a table profit before the film releases lies in my ambit. I have no power over other factors such as climate and political situation, which are crucial for footfall. My only concern about Madharaasi is that the film should be engaging, ” he begins, adding, “There is no overarching pressure to deliver a hit. Even in Amaran, there was skepticism about whether I could pull off an Army officer’s role and if a biopic could have the right commercial elements. I will only work towards overcoming such challenges. Amaran was yet to be released when I had already signed for Madharaasi and Parasakthi. There is no way I choose films thinking about a hit streak or anything.”     

Likewise, monotony is not something that Sivakarthikeyan would lose sleep over while choosing action films. “The kind of action films that I do ensure this monotony is curbed. In Maaveeran, my character is not comfortable engaging in fights. He requires a supernatural prompt before springing into action. My character in Amaran is determined to even lay down his life for his team. In Madharaasi, after a point, my character should seem unstoppable. So if I get an interesting character, it takes care of subverting monotony,” he adds, while emphasising that he won’t choose challenging characters, which might not cater to his market demands. “I can no longer sign films just because I like the story. I desire to do a full-fledged comedy film, but I don’t think I have the liberty to do that. That’s why I produce films.”

The fact that Sivakarthikeyan considers his role as a producer to be liberating is interesting because in today’s times, it is getting tougher to back a film. Take, for instance, Vetri Maaran’s announcement that he will no longer produce films after Bad Girl. Sivakarthikeyan, while acknowledging the difficulties faced by producers, posits he is not the right person to flag issues. “I produce such films that I want to but cannot act in, or a film with a fascinating story not known to many, such as Kottukkaali. I make films from a portion of my earnings from my acting career. Let me be honest, I am not making ventures that would incur a loss. I produce films out of passion with a limited risk. Not many producers are dependent on their own resources to make a film. Yes, there are plenty of systemic issues in producing a film that need to be discussed and sorted out. But I am not the person who can comment on them.”           Â