Part 72: I found my mantra to stay on top!

They say that my potential had been wasted in Vinnukkum Manukkum. The problem is Vinnukkum Mannukkum was preceded by Sethu. Obviously the public expect more and more from me since the phenomenal success of Sethu".

But this time around I wasn't going away that easily. Not that I ever did but this time it was different. I just sensed it. That's when Dharani called. We had lost touch for a number of years.

And suddenly, out of the blue he called me and said he had a script to narrate. I heard it. I loved it. I accepted it.

Dharani told me I was playing a police officer in the film and I needed to have a twenty-eight-inch waist. He wanted me to go from being a middle-class man to a police officer.

A mean fighting machine. I hit the gym. I pumped weight; built up my body even s I got my waist down to twenty- eight inches. Dharani rewarded me for all my hard work and gave me some phenomenal lines to speak in the film.

I was to play the role of an energetic young man with many dreams in his heart.For 'Dhil', I stayed in gym for 3 months and beefed up my body.

My fervor…Dharani's dream both made 'Dhil' a success!

After Sethu,Dharani's Dil gave me a different look and the movie was box office gold--the biggest box office success of 2001.

And I found my mantra to stay on top.

I realised one thing. After being a part of the industry for so long, most people considered me a flop actor who now had hits. If there was any way I was to become even remotely competitive and reach the top or even be among the second level of starts, I had to be different in every film. Looking normal would not wok. With these two films I avoided being typecast and that probably was what made them such huge hits. The public had no clue what I was going to do in my next film and came prepared for whatever ‘look’ I threw at them and I was determined to cash in on that. From now the quest was to look and act different in every film.

So I signed Kassi.

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