Part 76: I am no longer just Kenny. I am Vikram Sir!!!

The past three-four years have been so much fun. Not just because I am finally tasting the pleasures of success.

I stayed under the cold and freezing waters of Ooty for over three days and was plastered with muck and grime and filth in Samurai.

I learnt magic for king.

I put on ten extra kilos for Dhool, which is now on it’s way to become the biggest hit in Tamil cinema in the past decade.

I am currently on another fifteen-kilo weight-loss programme and have cut my hair to near baldness for Pithamagan.

In between, I also played a lover-boy role in Kaadal Sadugudu a la Shah Rukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le jaayenge.

Is all this worth it? The rapid body changes this entails. The then to gain it back. The rapid body changes this entails. The incredible tiredness and the toll it takes on the mind and body.

Is it worth it? It has to be.

I mean why else do it, right? Of course, it's worth it. The applause, the appreciation, the awards...all this with the ability to buy my sports cars and after the shoot go home to my beautiful wife who is also my very best and my adorable kids - it’s all so worth it. It paid off. In a state where nobody as much as even gave anyone else a chance to be a successor to Kamal, I am at least considered the forerunner to the throne. Combine that with the fact that except for one all of my films have been major hits in the past three years and two of the biggest hits ever to have graced Tamil cinema. Not too bad.

These days I am among the highest paid actors in Tamil cinema. I get my choice of the biggest and the very best banners and I got to pick the director and what story to do.

And I have yet to work with the crème de la crème of Tamil cinema. I am still to work with Shankar and Mani Ratnam.

There's a whole world of cinema yet to be discovered. Again not too bad.

Even as the actor fraternity all over India waits with bated breath each time a Kamal film is set for release only to 'buy’ the rights and remake it in their own language, these days my films also enjoy the same response. Actors from Kannada, Telugu and Hindi keep tabs on my career and at this point at lest five of my films are being remade or are in the process of getting remade! This is probably the closest I will ever get to Kamal and I am enjoying every moment of this journey.

After all these years of hoping and praying … to actually get to this point. It is so worth it!

I simply cannot and will not complain. But I cannot help but be wistful sometimes. I remember Dil. It was such a wonderful period in my life. I mean after years of struggle I had finally made it with Sethu. But I still needed to consolidate that position you know? I was someone to watch out for but not just a star yet. Those were the days when Dharani, his assistants, cinematographer Gopi and I would shoot the whole day and then have a drink later in the evening. In the dead of night, we would go around Chennai to all the theatres, promising ourselves that Dil would make it. And it did. We willed it to happened. Two years later … It's the same unit.

Same director, same assistants, same music director, same’ cinematographer--but it's all different now. I now sit inside my caravan in between shots. I am no longer invited to the drinking sessions after the shoot. I am no longer just Kenny.

I am Vikram Sir. The star. Now they treat me with respect. There's no irreverence, nothing spontaneous about our relationship. Of course in many ways I am glad. It means I have made it big. But, it has come with a price!

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