As we all know, you’re a music director, singer, actor. What are you most passionate about?
Music is what I want to do. That is what I desire. My family is also in the same line. My interest towards music is more than acting. Acting is easy work for me. I need not have abs or go to the gym. I do it effortlessly and it will come naturally. Acting is fun, but music is my passion.

You have performed in Yuvan concerts? In the future, if there’s a world tour, would you join them?
We are on the way. In 2023, we’re doing a World tour. Dates have been set. Around March, we are set to perform in London, Paris, US and Canada. Last year we performed in Malaysia and Chennai. We’re planning to have the concerts at Coimbatore, Trichy and Tirunelveli.

You also have a great sense of humor. Have you thought of doing stand-up comedy?
I’m not good at that. I don’t speak much. If I speak, I may do so about philosophies of life but not comedy, something sarcastic or funny. I cannot think of that. People do laugh when I speak and with the way I speak but I’m not sure if I know how to make any comedy at all, not by myself.

From your upcoming projects, which project are you eagerly waiting to be released?
There are quite a few things in the pipeline. I’m actually waiting for Sathya Sodhanai. The shooting got over before lockdown. It was directed by a very creative director, Suresh Sangaiyah. My character that I have played is very new for me – like a village boy and I’m really looking forward to it.

You’ve worked with your brother on so many projects, can you tell which project you’ve ignored that your brother insisted on doing?
I did not ignore any. In fact, I ask him to include my roles in every movie possible. It is like a holiday for me on sets. I want to work with him and it is always fun. The sets are completely packed and I get to hangout with people I like. It was the craziest on the sets of Goa. One thing where I was hesitant is in the movie Biryani due to my deal with Yuvan. If I act in my brother’s movies, Yuvan does music for that film. My brother asked me to do music in that particular movie with Santhanam in my role but I insisted that I will act instead and that even turned out to be Yuvan’s 100th film. I never ignore. I instead fight with him to add a role for me.

Who do you consider to be your role model whose career you would like to emulate, and why?
My role models are my uncle and my father. Apart from my family, it has to be Superstar Rajinikanth – the way he talks, and quotes about Spirituality, Michael Jackson and everything about him. He is also full of love. Heal the world, we all have this one life, we can’t transfer to any other world – philosophies on world. I also look upto many others who make a difference in this world in a similar aspect.

When did you decide that you want to enter the film industry?
From my childhood. It is what I saw growing up. So, during school holidays we would go to the shoots. If our father had shoots out of station, we would visit there too. We would go to recordings and all the shooting spots. It automatically and sub consciously was in my mind to do the same. My acting career started in 2005, when I first joined Simbu for a movie. Media is powerful and entertaining the people was the only thing I had in my mind.

Which character has been the most challenging for you?
Mass movie- sentiment scenes. I was a little scared. They wanted me to cry but even with glycerine, my eyes got irritated but did not tear up and that kind of performance was a little bit challenging. But I took it up as a challenge.

What is your greatest strength as a music producer?
Blessings from God. I am more into rhythm programming. I did rhythm programming with Yuvan after my schooling and liked to produce rhythms for folk songs. We made some of the notable ones like “Machi, open the bottle”, “Saroja samaan nikalo”, remix songs for my brothers’ movies. I used to take all the songs from my uncle’s old movies and remix it into the current trends, beats and orchestration.

What steps do you take to fully understand the importance of your character for the story?
I just meet the director, and they explain the story. I ask about my role and get to know what the role is in its totality. I then ask them about the performance. I ask if I have to give it something extra or keep it subtle. According to that, I do my performance and just how the director wants. If my role satisfies him, from action till cut, then I’m happy. If some reviews and feedback is there, I change it accordingly. I recently acted in Chimbudevan Sir’s movie. I did not act like myself. He totally changed and moulded me to fit the character, which was very subtle and someone who speaks in a calm manner. My natural style is to be over enthusiastic, but he calmed it all down and changed it. So, I do as the director tells me to. I don’t do any homework in particular to get into the character. I don’t do method acting. I try to stick to what I can naturally perform.

What first got you into music?
Yuvan Shankar Raja. At the age of 14, I used to go program the rhythm on his other keyboard. That is when I found out that my interest lies in programming, making music, and composing. I came to know about it and he is the one who taught me how to orchestrate songs. He is my mentor and music teacher. He is the sole reason I’m doing music right now.

What are your upcoming projects?
No titles are decided as of now. I have composed for two movies with new directors, and actors. Music work is going on. I’m playing a role in my brother’s Telugu movie with Naga Chaitanya in the Tamil version of it in place of Vennila Kishore. I’m waiting for the release of Sathya Sodhanai. Many more projects are on the way. It is just very simple; directors come and tell me stories and if it is possible for me to do it, I take it up.

You did your music course abroad? Did you date someone there?
I was there for two years. I wasn’t exactly the studious types. I was chilling over there and having a lot of fun. I rarely went to the university. I was not dating. I just had a lot of guy friends who were Sri Lankan -Tamil people. They are very close to me, so I stayed over at their place. We almost partied everyday. I lived a typical bachelor life over there. We cooked, listened to music and watched a lot of movies. No dating, no girlfriends.

How do you like to spend time with your family, when you’re not working?
We used to go to visit many places in childhood during the school annual holidays. Every year back then in April and May we would go out of station. I used to buy toys and even video games. As we grew up, we didn’t have the time to go for a vacay as a family. But, every year we used to visit Pannaipuram with the entire family. Right now, all we do is meet during festivals and functions, sit together to watch movies or just eat and chill.