EXCLUSIVE Chef actor Padmapriya: Expectations are very different from a star in Bollywood than in South film industry

Padmapriya too feels that it is not her comeback, rather a film which was meant for her. “I didn’t happen to Chef, the film happened to me and I’m glad Raja thought about me while penning his character. I had fun shooting for the film,” she said.

The actor has extensively worked down south with superstars like Mohanlal and Vijay. On being asked if she can differentiate between the kind of stardom actors enjoy down south and in Bollywood, here’s how she made us and even Saif, understand the massive yet basic difference.

“When you see the phase of 60s and 70s, the craze for Dev Anand and actors of that era, it still exists in south. The craze is huge but that’s also for stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal, especially for male stars. But of course there are exceptions. Like Khushboo too has a temple, people worship her. There’s a fan club culture which is very unique,” she said.

She continued that down south people have a lot of love and affection towards their stars. “It is a very intimate industry. The expectations are very different from a star and their fans. For example, Kerala stardom is different. If you’re a star but you cannot act, it won’t work there,” Padma continued.

“They will tear you apart if you don’t do good work. Your performances have to be important, if you have to evolve. Bad performances are not forgiven,” added director Raja, who belongs to Kerala too.

“It doesn’t matter how big a star you are. That’s why the industry has also evolved so much over time,” concluded Padma.

Talking about Tamil industry, Raja said that fans treat their stars very differently and in fact, the stars’ life gets much affected because of their fans. “They really put you on pedestal. They give you a title and you have to work in accordance to the title. They hail you for all you’ve done because you know it’s you,” he said.

But on mention of this, Saif, who was totally immersed with their description of stardom, asked if fans and the title have any affect on the personal life and was astonished and worried to know that an actor’s act or step has to be taken in accordance to their title in personal life too. So, its not easy.

Meanwhile, Chef has released today and Saif, who isn’t having a good run at the box office since quite sometime, is hopeful about its success. The film is majorly about a father and a son’s relationship and how the man realises the worth of love, relationships and time.