Karthik plays a slum dweller in Veppam

Karthik Kumar spills the beans about his character in his latest film.
Karthik Kumar is back, with Veppam, and this time, he plays (surprise!) a slum dweller in the film. ���������My character, Vishnu, is a man of big dreams. He runs a mechanic shop left behind by his late father. But the irony is that despite his big dreams, he doesn���������t really work towards achieving them.He is quite an interesting person,��������� the actor starts off excitedly.
It was an entirely new experience for Karthik to play a rugged person and the actor states that he thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. ���������To get into the skin of the character, I had to wear dull makeup and pick my clothes from roadside shops. Nevertheless, it was fun,��������� says Karthik.
So, did he actually go to the slums to get a feel of the character? ���������Not really. I personally believe that the slums in Chennai are very much a part of the city���������s culture and those who reside in posh localities are not isolated from it. As children, we have played cricket in the corporation grounds, which have youngsters from all sections of the society playing there. Also, the Chennai Tamil that we speak is the dialect from the slums. Hence, it wasn���������t very difficult to adapt myself to the character.���������
At the same time, the actor is glad that he is gradually coming out of the NRI guy mould, a role in which he has been typecast often. ���������I hail from a lower middle class family but all the roles that I initially played in films were that of either an NRI or a geek. So, when I got this opportunity, I couldn���������t say no. I was thrilled about the fact that the film will showcase the other side of me. Moreover, I wanted to come out of my comfort zone. One of the worst things an actor can do is to play similar roles again and again in the same setting.���������
Point out to Karthik that most of his recent films are with women directors and he responds with a smile. ���������That���������s sheer coincidence. I absolutely enjoyed working with all of them. Women directors are thorough professionals, who work hard and are here to prove a point. I���������m also glad that they are doing gritty projects like Veppam. It���������s good to see so many women directors on the block and it���������s a good trend,��������� concludes the actor, who is currently playing a cameo in director Vijay���������s upcoming film with Vikram.
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