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Suriya teases update on standalone Rolex film; reveals Lokesh Kanagaraj gave him Rolex’s dialogues just before shooting: ‘I don’t know if…’

Suriya recently opened up about playing the iconic character of Rolex in Kamal Haasan's Vikram, revealing that he did not prepare for Rolex beforehand.

Despite the movie featuring many actors, including Kamal Haasan, Suriya's extended cameo of Rolex etched itself into the minds of cinephiles. (Image: MADIC Creations/Facebook)

“Sir! Just sir!” It’s doubtful if any other recent movie character is instantly recognisable from just two such words, but that’s the impact Rolex (Suriya) from Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Vikram (2022) has had on the audience. Even though the film featured actors like Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, Gayathrie Shankar and Chemban Vinod Jose in throughout roles, the extended cameo of Rolex etched itself into the minds of cinephiles, thanks to Kanagaraj’s brilliant character crafting and Suriya’s commanding screen presence.

Recently, Suriya opened up about playing the iconic character, revealing that he did not prepare for Rolex beforehand. “I didn’t get the scene papers till morning (of the shooting day). I knew what was happening and that I was coming only for the last two minutes. It was just half a day’s shoot. There was no prep. Once they lit up (the set) and set up the camera, the dialogues were given, saying ‘this is what you’re going to do and behave. If you like to walk on the table, you can.’ It was all just candid and spontaneous,” he said during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter India.

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Suriya also explained why he broke his longstanding “no smoking on screen” rule for the role. “For 20 years I have never smoked on screen. I thought I should never do that. But here, I was playing a bad guy. Why should I bring in Surya there? (I thought) Let me break all rules. So, just before the shot, I asked them to give me a cigarette and then we started shooting.” The second instalment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) and Vikram is a spiritual successor to Kamal’s 1986 film of the same name.

He further went on to describe how the role challenged him as an actor, as he usually follows a technique similar to Lee Strasberg’s method acting wherein one makes use of their own emotional experiences and memories to prepare for a role. “Usually, I depend on my old memories. I dig into old graves, which I closed and don’t want to open again. I depend on those; I feel like I need to draw emotions from my own past experiences. But, something happened with Lokesh. Since Kamal sir was also coming to the shooting spot, I had to finish before he arrived as I can’t act in front of him. But it’s also because of the mood set by Lokesh (on set). So, I didn’t have to really go back into memories,” he mentioned.

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“I just tried to own up those dialogues and try to think, what if this guy is actually in that world and how true he can be. I didn’t think beyond those things; neither did I go into his past or future. I didn’t know we would be discussing a standalone Rolex film for the longest time. I just wanted to do something with Kamal sir and his Raaj Kamal Films International,” the National Award-winning actor added.

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Much to the delight of fans, Suriya also revealed that he has been in the talks with Lokesh for two projects: the standalone Rolex movie and Irumbu Kai Maayavi, which the director has previously revealed as his dream project. “However, I don’t know if it’s coming back to me or if a bigger actor will be cast in it. But we do want to work with each other. We have a producer also waiting. But he also has commitments,” he said, hopeful that the projects will come to life.

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