There has to be a meaning in what I do: Vishnu Vishal

CHENNAI: Vishnu Vishal's Aaryan has opened to positive response and also is headed towards a strong theatrical run for the next few weeks. The actor-producer has always been confident about it. "Else I wouldn't have named the film after my son. This is something he should look back and be proud of after a few years and ask why I did not give a good film in his name. So, when Praveen K came to me with the script, I knew that this will work," he says.

Aaryan is a thriller and Vishnu says that this will be way different from his blockbuster thriller, Raatchasan. "That was the first thing we discussed. This should be anything but Raatchasan. In that movie, the audience were keen on knowing who the villain is. With Aaryan, we reveal that Selvaraghavan is the antagonist in the very first scene but apart from that the story will be far-fetched from what the audience predicts as there will be a twist unfolding with each and every scene," he remarks.

Vishnu also says that the intensity of the story is something that was vouched by Aamir Khan himself. "We became friends during the Chennai floods. Praveen and I were in Mumbai during Gatta Kusthi's release and that is when Aamir had invited us over. That night he listened to this story and was impressed. He saw the trailer cut we had made from the 15-day shoot. He had sat with us for discussions and I was confused as to why he did all these. Aamir sir wanted to play the antagonist in the Hindi version. He spent 40 hours on this script and he said due to various reasons he couldn't take it up and those were solid, honest reasons. But that was the sign that we are doing something right," adds Vishnu.

Be it Velainu Vandhutta Vellaikaaran or Gatta Kusthi or Raatchasan, Vishnu's characters outshone others'. "But trust me, I don't rehearse for any of my roles. I need to be in that costume and on the sets for me to get into the skin of the character. It takes two to three days for me to understand the character and I keep asking lots of questions. At the end of the day, there should be a meaning in what I do and I know I do my roles rightly," says the actor.

Of late, Vishnu has been clear that he will be producing or collaborating with othe producers for his films. "Aaryan was stalled for almost 18 months and then Irandu Vaanam hasn't seen the light of the day yet. It is my time and I have understood that if no one else values it, at least I will have to and bring out films in a stipulated time period," he concludes.