Y. Sunita Chowdhary
Thiruveer is talented, good looking and he is at the right place at the right time. Call him the dark horse or the patient gainer, fact is that Thiruveer is slowly and steadily climbing up the success ladder. He has worked in Mallesham, Ghazi but the audiences remember him more for his work in George Reddy. Every actor has a grain. When you feel an actor has done phenomenally well or if they have the spot is when they are cast in the grain. Though we feel George Reddy is that film, Thiruveer thinks otherwise. He says his best is yet to come and there is a long way to go. Palasa came later. He is not overtly worried about being stereotyped as he is very clear on his mind about what he wants. 
He did a lead role in SIN which is a web series that dealt with marital rape and was streamed in March during the lockdown. Right now his calendar is blocked and is very happy doing films of his choice. Some are positive roles, some are negative, but all of them are indispensable to the plot movement. Klapboardpost.com asks him if directors ask him to put on weight for a negative role and he makes his intentions clear to dabble in all kinds of characters and doesn’t want to be stuck as an antagonist. “I don’t like to build my physique for such negative roles. There are many who have such bodies but if they want to experiment they need someone like me right? I don’t want to do the same roles and be one among the ten people. I am looking for diverse and exciting characters.”
Y.Sunita Chowdhary
George Reddy the big ticket: Do new directors come with passion which is why the first film is mostly successful? “Not always, sometimes they disappear after the first film releases. I know, you are hinting at all my first film directors. People remark that I am good at story selection but I am not that privileged. I pick from what is given to me. For the role in George Reddy, I was introduced through an acquaintance to director Jeevan Reddy. I thought I will bag a place amongst the hundred people to scream ‘zindabad’ and that will fetch me roles and money. At that point of time, that was only on my mind. Jeevan Reddy, luckily, noticed me and offered me the role. I was shocked. I was doing a drama at the Phoenix Arena and director Karuna Kumar of Palasa saw me and offered me a role. Later I was asked to attend an audition and roped in as the lead guy in SIN, shares Thiruveer.
SIN, a good decision: Working for a web series or for an OTT film was never on his mind, he kept telling that to all the people who enquired if he would be interested. The DoP, the costume designer and director of SIN were his friends and they convinced him to listen to the story. That done, he thought the story had to be told to people. “I liked it. I was scared initially but then I decided if it is a content that must be told then why not? So, out of the ten people who saw, six liked it. Now all those who watched it ask me when the second season is coming up. Lot of people connected with it and it fetched many views for the streaming platform, around 15 plus million views approximately. The lockdown did help in getting me a new audience. When Palasa came out, lock down was announced.”
Resourceful lockdown: I spent the first three months of lockdown watching all the movies on the OTT platforms. August onwards, I did an independent film directed by Rupak Ronaldson. It is a rural emotional drama and to be precise, it is a story of a village. I need to wrap it up. There might be fabulous world cinema on the net but at the end of the day, we always tend to lean towards our desi stuff; I always see Hindi and South Indian cinema. I learnt Malayalam and Tamil during the lockdown and I can understand forty to sixty and developed a fondness for seeing Fahd Faasil’s films. I like his selection of stories and performance. A talent for whipping up non vegetarian dishes is something I discovered and I enjoyed cooking. What would I do with my time when I am not allowed to step out? I heard a lot of stories too, at least 15 to 20 of them on Zoom call or phone call. Some would mail the script or synopsis and I would read which would take some time. I was free till August but later I did Metro Kathalu which is a seventy minute film, my role was small but significant.
Case 99: Life has returned to normal, as far as I am concerned and I am grateful for all this. We went outdoors for forty day outdoor for Rupak Ronaldson’s film in Mancherial. Now we are into promoting Case 99. Just when George Reddy released, one AD who was working on Case 99 got in touch and so did some of the friends in the film industry. They wanted me to listen to the story which they said was very interesting. I never met its director Priyadarshini Ram but my memory of seeing him on DD is pretty much vivid. When we were young, we would go to our neighbour’s house to watch television and the show was Detective Paramahamsa, he played the title role in DD. That image is fixed in my mind even now and so is his magnificent voice. He was my childhood hero. I met him and he spoke so well and that made me wonder if people in this society are actually so good. He narrated the story. I wanted to take a break after George Reddy but the film began rolling immediately. It is a thrilling and a gripping story and the investigation keeps one hooked. In Case 99, there is a young pair, and I play a man in a village waiting to seek revenge. At the risk of sounding pompous, the most seen characters in the film are I and Priyadarshini Ram. I am also doing Tuck Jagdish.
Immediate goal: The reach of an actor is very important and a successful film and a big film makes all the difference. Most people who saw my previous films don’t remember me and I feel I am getting stuck somewhere. How will my work and money grow if I keep limiting myself to a certain kind of cinema? I am aiming at visibility and duration of a role is not important but is the role important to the story is what matters. I am also doing three independent films and a new film is in discussion. There are two more films coming up in December and January and I need to select one from them. End of the day cinema is business and they will pick me for a role only if I am a familiar face. Even if I have to work on OTT, people will look for a popular face and question my credentials. Only when my small films do well, I get a chance to work in a big film….which again goes to say you are as good as your last film. We have to constantly keep proving ourselves in good roles lest our career gets dented.
