Vikram demanded a vanity van even before Rajinikanth had one, would have five bodyguards when Thalaiva had one: ‘I wanted this so badly’

In the same chat, Vikram spoke about his struggle to stay grounded while being a movie star. Vikram said that he doesn’t mind being mobbed, because that’s the level of fame that he has worked hard for, but he admitted that it is very difficult for them to make friends. He shared that he keeps his work life separate from his personal life and said that even though he likes to stay “normal,” he enjoys the frills that come with being a star.

ALSO READ | Actor, Superstar, Thalapathy, and the GOAT: Tracing three magical decades of Vijay

Vikram said that as much as he enjoys the attention that he gets from his fans and admirers, he realises that the way they worship him cannot translate into a friendship. He insisted that it is next to impossible to make friends after one becomes famous, and that even family members treat you differently. “It’s very difficult to make friends once you become famous. So your true friends are the friends you knew before,” he said.

He said that his son Dhruv Vikram, who is also an actor, is starting to realise that being a star is a lonely job. “My son is an actor now, he went for a wedding and he was like ‘I was feeling a little odd’. I said, ‘Yeah, get used to it. It is going to get very lonely’,” he shared, and added that when one attends an event as a star, they become a “spectacle.”

Vikram said that he clearly demarcates his life at home, where he is known as Kenny, from his life in the public eye. “I am Kenny at home and Vikram at work. When I am Vikram, they can’t reach me. If they want to talk to me, they talk to my assistant, I may not talk. Likewise, when I am at home they (work people) can’t reach me, nobody can reach me,” he said.