It indeed was the role of a lifetime. How many actors get to play double roles in A restless fighting machine in the first half of the film.
Bala described my character of ‘Chiyaan’ in the film as someone who wasn’t physically overpowering. He was mentally overwhelming to people. Heaven forbid if anything set him off-especially a wrong-the guy would literally will himself to beat his opponent. That was Chiyaan- a restless, mad, and an outrageously violet man who then found love in a simple Iyer girl, a love for which he would actually consider changing his rough and-tough person and become a softer and nicer human being. And just when the Iyer girl decides to accept this rogue in her life, the villain repeatedly smashes Chiyaan’s head with an iron rod, driving him mad.
Bala explained that he wanted me to lose well over fifteen kilos for the second half of the film. I had to look painfully thin and gaunt. In fact, he described it as a double role, except that I was not playing two different people. I simply played one man who has two distinctly different looks.
I asked with Bala, “How much weight I should lose?”
“That much weight so that I should easily can lift you. That’s it.”, He replied very easily.
And he wanted me to lose those fifteen-plus kilos in twenty days!
Those 
were some days.
The producer who agreed to finance Sethu was never sure if the movie would work. Bala had convinced him after failing with so many others. We were never sure if shooting would start on time till we actually saw the producer alight from the local bus carrying a tote bag with the day’s shooting money! Many a times we assembled at the shooting spot only to return without shooting.
But when he shot the first scene then I realized, “Aha! This guy has something in him. This is what I needed.”
I knew that he would shoot the movie in a very good way. I could see the confidence and the arrogance of an established director in him. Such a deep concentration he had. He knew what he wanted. I felt like I have joined a good guy.
I doubled up as everything. I helped the cinematographer. We became good friends. I asked him take me on as his assistant. I ran around all over the place trying to help with props. If there was a frame on-screen that looked bare, I made sure we at least put in some fire logs on one side to give the frame some depth. There was no money. The while movie consisted of people who has all struggled for years and were trying to make it. There was a weird energy on the sets. A manic sense of urgency was the one pervading feeling. All of us needed to make Sethu work. No one was his normal self during the entire shooting.
There was an English movie by name Cast Away. Its hero would reach an uninhabited island. He would suffer without food and would become skinny. They adopted scientific methods. He consulted a doctor and reduced his intake as advised by him and reduced 8 kgs for the movie. But the method that I adopted was very 'local'. Just stop eating. That's all .I lost weight.
Twenty one days! One carrot juice without sugar, one beet root juice, one egg and one meal. That’s it. This was my daily food.
I survived on fruit juice and nothin
g else. My blood pressure dropped and doctors warned me about low-pressure. I did not pay any heed to that. I was firm till the end of the movie.
I shaved my head. And then for three hours I sat wearing just a drawer and sun burnt myself. I used to go by walk to the shooting spot daily, which was sixteen KMs away from the hotel.
Many people could not recognize me because of my complexion. I was just wearing the same one pair of shirt and drawer through out the shoot.
I became lean. When I came back to Chennai during the break, everyone who saw me, used to ask, “Vikram! What happened?”
And I used to reply, “What to do? No movies at all. Now I have changed and working as a driver.”
At one stage I even lost my consciousness and my hearing ability....I was not able to hear anything....
One day everyone was taking lunch, Bala saw me lying around the wastages. Non stop starving had made me unconscious and sometimes I’d wake up only if someone touches, gives me a jerk....
Bala asked me, "Are u fe
eling so tough, Vikram?"
I replied, ‘No, Bala, when I was taking treatment at hospital due to accident one of my relative had come to see me....He is from cine field as well ...He told, ‘How you are you going to act in movies? Okay, okay! You can get some handicapped roles!!"....How cruel words....We should win, Bala! Hitting, Insulting or not only revenge, we should win in front of him....I was alone at that time but you are with me now! Sethu is with us!....We will win, Bala....Promise!’
I changed my appearance. I did all that expecting the film to be over in three months. But six months passed, another six months passed and even after one-and-a-half years, we were not finished. I couldn't take up another film because of my appearance. I did some dubbing, that's all. By the end of the second year, it was my mother who ran my house.
If the gamble worked, it would work big time.
If it didn’t we would fall flat on our faces.
I still remember. My marriage took place in Guruvayoor. That day, not just Shaila and I, but 100 marriages were taking place at the same time.
My friends
started scaring me, that the bride could be switched, since there were so many of them. I held onto Shaila tight. If the bride got switched by any chance, it s all over.
My wife Shaila was always there to support me in times of difficulty. She would say, “Films are not the only option. Do a computer course. We can find other jobs. We have had enough troubles in our lives.” But even at those troubled times, she would be very supportive. This time too again Shaila supported me.
After all these years, after two children, Shaila still supported me through this. She knew this would either make or break me. Most probably break me. But she still persisted.
Shaila! My very own angel!
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