I used Ed Harris's role in 'The Rock' as the reference point for my role in 'Thanal', says Ashwin Kakumanu

Well known actor Ashwin Kakumanu, whose performance in director Ravindra Madhava's edge-of-the-seat action thriller 'Thanal' has come in for praise from the critics and the industry insiders, says he used actor Ed Harris's performance in 'The Rock' as a reference point for his role in the film.

The film, which features actor Atharvaa Murali as the hero, has Ashwin Kakumanu playing the antagonist for the very first time in his career.

Ashwin, who plays an ex-military officer in the film, spoke exclusively to IANS about how he prepared himself for this role.

Begins the actor, "When I heard the story, you know, the Ed Harris sort of character was the one that came to my mind. That was a reference point. A guy, a general who's gone rogue, who's so fed up with the system that he's like, you know, I'm going to go rogue. I love that movie and I love that character. He's a villain, but you feel for him. That's because he has integrity. It's a character where even though he's doing bad things, there's an integrity to it that you can't dismiss."

Draw Ashwin Kakumanu's attention to the fact that a lot of heroes would refrain from doing negative roles or roles with negative shades. Did he, as an upcoming hero, have any apprehensions about doing a negative role?

Says Ashwin Kakumanu, "See, I've always loved movie villains. As an audience, I love Hannibal Lecter, Joker, James Bond villains, Maurice Morey's Marvel villains, I think there are things they can do while heroes traditionally have to follow in a certain mould. So, I've always looked for those roles."

Thanal, which has cinematography by Sakthi Saravanan, has editing by Kalaivanan R and art direction by Ayyapan S. Stunts in the film have been choroegraphed by R. Sakthi Saravanan while dances in the film have been choreographed by Hari Kiran.