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Sivakarthikeyan is undoubtedly one of the most important commercial stars of Tamil cinema. His path into cinema has given many an outsider the hope to succeed in their passion. In addition to being a star actor, Sivakarthikeyan’s sojourn into film production has given his career an interesting facet. While he has blockbusters like Doctor and Don to his credit, Sivakarthikeyan has also backed projects like Kanaa, Vaazhl, and the upcoming, Kottukkaali. At the trailer launch of Kottukkaali, which is the sophomore film of Koozhangal director PS Vinothraj, the Maaveeran actor opened up about his rationale behind backing the Soori and Anna Ben-starrer.
“I just wanted to celebrate a filmmaker like PS Vinothraj. In fact, Kottukkaali happened only because I wanted to have this opportunity to herald him,” said Sivakarthikeyan, who revealed that he came onboard Vinothraj’s next without even listening to the narration. “I asked him not to the narrate the script to avoid any sort of discussion that could change his idea. He gave me the budget, and we went ahead with the film.”
WATCH: Kottukkaali trailer: PS Vinothraj promises intriguing drama with Soori and Anna Ben
Calling this as the first of many such attempts from his banner Sivakarthikeyan Productions, the actor said, “If I earn profits from the film, the first thing I’d do is to take a portion of it, and give Vinothraj the advance for his next. And if I earn even more money from Kottukkaali, then I will search for more filmmakers like Vinothraj and back their visions.” While this did sound ambitious, Sivakarthikeyan, who is known for having an astute mind about the economics of cinema, said, “Making money in cinema is important. There must be a certain return on investment. However, the audience’s acceptance of me as an actor, and then a star, has taken care of the business aspects of my career. If I work sincerely, I know I will earn as an actor.”
Referring to famed director duo Pushkar-Gayatri’s response after watching Kottukkaali, Sivakarthikeyan said, “They congratulated me and said ‘This is your service to cinema’ and I believe backing films like Kottukkaali is the small return to the cinema that has made me who I am today.”
Here’s the trailer of Kottukkaali
While this speech did win the hearts of many, there was a part of it that has become a point of contention. Talking about being credited as the one who identifies and platforms talent, Sivakarthikeyan said, “I wouldn’t say things like I identified the talent or gave them a life. I have been listening to people saying that about me for a long time and normalising it. What I am doing with my banner is just introducing them to the world like how I’d introduce a friend to another. I will always use my identity as an actor, and bring more talents to the fore.”
Even though this speech about not wanting to hog the credit was heartwarming, some netizens felt that it was a statement referring to Dhanush, who re-introduced Sivakarthikeyan as a lead actor in his own production, Ethirneechal. Old videos of Dhanush saying something similar about not wanting to hog the credit of providing Sivakarthikeyan with a bigger platform started resurfacing. Although reports of them having a fallout did the rounds for a few years, they have remained cordial with each other whenever they’ve met onstage or talked about each other on public platforms.
Apart from producing Kottukkaali, which is gearing up for a release on August 23, Sivakarthikeyan is also awaiting the release of his film, Amaran, which is backed by Kamal Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International. The Rajkumar Periasamy directorial will hit the screens this Diwali.
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