I see myself as a hero, not villain: Daniel Balaji

Daniel Balaji is not new to Sandalwood. After wowing audiences with his performance in the Yash-starrer Kirataka, Daniel is back with Duniya Vijay’s Shivajinagara. And the actor will be doing what he does best — play a baddie in the film. While Daniel has been seen in several negative roles earlier, he says that this is his first full-length action flick.
“I was amazed at the narration director P Satya gave for my role in the film.It is not a stereotypical action-commercial film, but a movie with a beautiful message. I play Ashish Vidyarthi’s son and we are both Muslim dons who reside in Shivajinagar. For the first time, my role as the villain also requires me to emote, albeit in a very subtle manner. While filmi dons usually have OTT images and shout or use foul language when they speak, here I show my emotions only through my eyes and body language. It was interesting, and at the same time, very challenging,” says Daniel.
Since the character is based in Shivajinagar, Daniel also reveals that he learnt to speak Urdu for the film. He says, “I have to speak a mix of Kannada and Urdu. So my job was to observe people in the locality, notice their body language and voice modulations when displaying different emotions. And since I am particular about dubbing for my role, I made the effort to learn the language.”
But ask him about being typecast as a villain and he says, “I see myself as a hero, and not as a villain. In fact, the guy who I am acting with is the villain for me. These tags don’t bother me. I am happy as long as I do interesting roles.” Daniel also reveals that working with a director like Satya amazed him. He says, “I have worked in all four south film industries, but what makes Sandalwood stand apart is that filmmakers here capture reality. Though the Malayalam film industry is known to present a slice of life on screen, Kannada films are as real as Malayalam films. Satya’s work in the film just proves that.” Working with Vijay added to his overall experience. “He is someone I really look up to. We share a similar story of how we entered the industry and his struggle always amazes me. Despite his action image in Sandalwood, Vijay is a real nice guy,” says Daniel.