The ‘accidental actor,’ as Arjun Chidambaram refers to himself, is basking in the success of his role as Varagunan in veteran Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus, Ponniyin Selvan-I. The Nerkonda Paarvai actor begins by recalling his fondest memories of Mani Ratnam with a smile. “I remember, when I was a kid, Ayutha Ezhuthu’s album released and I bought a cassette (of it) for the first time. I almost damaged the cassette because I listened to the film’s songs so many times!” he says with a laugh.
Arjun shares that he playfully told his friend when he was in college, “Imagine what it would be like to act in a Mani Ratnam film?” Fast forward to 10 years from then, it looks like dreams do come true! Arjun tells us, “I guess, in a way, the universe heard it and manifested it.”
What roles can we expect to see Arjun in next? The actor is currently gearing up for several upcoming projects, including the OTT series, The Village and films, Aneethi (starring Arjun Das and Dushara Vijayan) and Kolai (starring Vijay Antony and Ritika Singh). He says, “I play the role of Arjun, a fashion photographer in Kolai. From the trailer, you would have seen that a model named Leila gets killed, and there are several suspects. I play the role of one of the suspects.”
Interestingly, Arjun does not know who the real killer in the story is. “When all the actors did the shoot, each one of us filmed a shot of us killing Leila. But the director revealed only 80 percent of the script to us. That was a stroke of genius from the director’s end. So, the ending is going to be as much a surprise to us as it will be to the film’s viewers!”
Watch the trailer of Kolai here:
Arjun also appears to be involved in several other activities apart from acting. Did you know that the actor lent his voice to Milind Soman’s character, Colonel James Anderson in Doctor starring Sivakarthikeyan? Looks like this has kicked off several other dubbing projects for the actor… “I lent the voice for the character of Jake Sully’s eldest son, Neteyam in the Tamil version of Avatar: The Way of Water,” he explains.
What else, you may wonder? With the actor being known for his deep voice, we are intrigued to find out that Arjun has also been producing his music, several of which are expected to be released in the upcoming year. “I didn’t plan on exploring singing, to be honest. I got into this to deal with heartbreak when a relationship of five years ended. I started playing the guitar then and it soon developed into something more. I hope to be able to put out some of them this year,” he signs off.
Also check out our web story: Here are some stunning stills from the trailer of Avatar: The Way of Water
Take 5 with Arjun:
Destinations on your travel bucket list: Amsterdam, Vegas, and an all-India trip from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Fitness routine, diet: I hit the gym five days a week. I have four to five meals a day mainly consisting of proteins. I have a bowl of fresh fruits and nuts every day.
Favourite genre of music: No specifics; everything from Sufi to rock and roll to Carnatic.
Hobbies: Going on drives, surfing, playing football and cricket.
Haircare routine: I use coconut oil, almond oil, and Meera shampoo. I also take capsules of fish oil with Omega-3.