Harish Kalyan interview: On ‘Lubber Pandhu,’ ‘Diesel’ and his take on stardom

Actor Harish Kalyan talks about his upcoming film ‘Lubber Pandhu’, playing a rural role after a long time, why the road to stardom isn’t a straight one and more

Interpersonal conflict seems to be a trope that has caught Harish Kalyan’s fancy. One of last year’s critically-acclaimed films, Parking, featured his character facing off with a fellow tenant played by the ever-dependable MS Bhaskar. This year, Harish is opening his innings with Lubber Pandhu — a film centred around cricket, featuring his character duelling against Attakathi Dinesh. Harish says there’s more to Lubber Pandhu than just the tussle. “The predominant reasons I accepted the film was because it’s set against a sports backdrop and I’ve not played many village-based characters. The fact that both of them came together in one script excited me. More than the play-off between two players, there are more emotional conflicts between all the major characters.”

Set in Trichy, Harish says he did not have to work much on getting the slang right. “There were just a few words, such as ‘ingutu, angutu’ that needed to be incorporated. Similarly, they use ‘pulla’ while addressing a younger woman. I’ve always played cricket but I’m a batsman/wicketkeeper, so I had to work on the bowling action as I play a fast bowler,” adds the actor.

Interestingly, earlier this year, we had Blue Star which was also a film about two foes turning friends in a cricket backdrop but Harish reckons his film is different. “This is more of a family sports drama. Family emotions, upliftment of women, and giving a different perspective about success are some of the aspects Lubber Pandhu concentrates on,” he says. “Anbu (the character he plays in the film) respects talent over everything. The film also sheds light on the rubber ball tournaments that are unique to the urban setting along with the commentary. For example, when a star player enters the ground, they would be welcomed with an actual song. Why elder players, like the character Dinesh anna plays, are engrossed in the sport and how the game itself causes trouble for both our characters form the crux of the film.”

Harish believes that “a film should get both critical acclaim and also do well commercially”. Comparing his last film, Parking, with Lubber Pandhu, he says, “Because of the floods, the theatrical run of Parking was affected a little but it gained a good name for itself and did commercially well in theatres apart from doing great on streaing. Lubber Pandhu has more heroic moments, fun elements and family sentiment. It’s packed with emotions and has a lot of theatrical moments to make sure it will be a wholesome entertainer.”

Earlier, actors turned heroes with an action film in just a year or two after their debut, but the current crop of actors doesn’t seem to have a preset roadmap towards stardom and Harish is well aware of the reasons. “The current generation of viewers are exposed to a lot more content. We have the OTT as well as formats like web series and even YouTube, so there’s never a deficiency of content. It’s a task to make people choose a theatrical film. Only if that film does well, its actor gets star value. Past the films, it’s the acceptance of the audience that makes an actor into a star or an action hero. I would love to do an action film,” says Harish whose next release, Diesel, is apparently one such attempt.

“Diesel is probably the biggest film I’ve done in my career in terms of the grandeur, the locations it was shot at, the action, and of course, the budget. It’s mounted on a large scale. On the other hand, my film with director Vignarajan (of Andhaghaaram fame) is a love story; it’s a full-fledged romance for me after Ispade Rajavum Idhaya Raniyum.”

Circling back to the topic of stardom, Harish adds, “The transformation to a star can happen in one film for an actor, and it might take more for others. I was in the mindset to take things slowly and that’s changing just now. I’m also getting scripts accordingly, and I’m trying to take the best from it. The idea is to do a mix of all genres and not just stick to action. The goal is to entertain the audience and choose scripts that will take us up the graph.”