While watching Sriram Raghavan’s Merry Christmas, I couldn’t help but think about its leading man, Vijay Sethupathi. How plausible would it have been a few years ago for a Tamil actor like him to work as a hero in Hindi films? Before you jump the gun and pull me by the ear to Kamal Haasan’s Ek Duje Ke Liye (1984) or to Dhanush’s Raanjhanaa (2013), there is a fine difference between them and Vijay Sethupathi.
For the average Hindi filmgoer, Vijay Sethupathi’s instant recall is as the actor who played villain to Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan. Before that he was perhaps known as that south actor who played villain in Kamal Haasan’s Vikram or the bad guy in Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Master starring Vijay. And even before that, he was an upcoming hero who played an ‘almost villain, almost son’ to superstar Rajinikanth in Pettai. For film buffs across India and the world, Vijay Sethupathi has played heartwarming heros in content driven films, such as 96. Director Sriram Raghavan said in an interview as to how he saw Vijay Sethupathi in 96 and decided he had found his Albert for Merry Christmas.
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The difference between Vijay Sethupathi playing the solo hero in a Hindi film in 2024 and Kamal Haasan in 1981 or Dhanush in 2013 lies in the fact that VJS (as he’s fondly called) has also played character roles including that of the bad guy. Vijay was not simply a Tamil hero who went on to play hero in another language; he transitioned from character roles to those of the protagonist till he showed us what he can do with Merry Christmas. When casting Tamil actors in Hindi cinema, the Tamil accented Hindi is a deterrent and hence the role itself is perhaps written as that of a Tamilian living in a Hindi-speaking region. Sethupathi’s Tamil laden Hindi adds to the character’s heft in Merry Christmas, which is a musical mystery noir and his Albert has captured many a heart by now.
The films Kamal Haasan did (he learnt Hindi and even directed his very first film in Hindi – Chachi 420) had him play non-South heroes as well, and he is perhaps the sole Tamilian actor to play a hero in Hindi cinema without his identity in the film being that of a South Indian. But I’m sure, with time, Vijay Sethupathi would also reach this point in his career as more Hindi directors will now come up with varied roles where we can see him play characters from different parts of India. Today’s milieu in Indian entertainment has made way for such possibilities, thanks to OTT and other language films screening in different states of India.
The first Dravidian actor who was able to catch the fancy of a society obsessed with fair-skinned heroes was Rajinikanth, but even he had to play friend and brother to the bigger superstar Amitabh Bachchan. From Tamil cinema, it was Kamal Haasan who had sole hero roles in Hindi films in the 80s and had writers, directors penning scripts just for him to star in, for example Ramesh Sippy’s Saagar. Suriya had a Rakta Charitra with Ramgopal Varma in 2010 and Dhanush, after Rajinikanth, shattered the quintessential “good looks means fair skin mould” for a Hindi film hero and gave a box office hit with Raanjhana. This perhaps paved the way for more actors from the south to take on roles in Hindi films that were not just bilingual films or dubbed in Hindi but were primarily a Hindi production. But for a Tamil hero to be a leading man in Hindi films and shoulder the weight of film’s success will take a lot more box office might.
In this context, Vijay Sethupathi playing the lead in a Sriram Raghavan film alongside Katrina Kaif marks a landmark in his career. Five years ago, no one would’ve believed this sort of a casting. But today, this polar opposite cast is the strongest point of Merry Christmas. The way the two actors play off one another in this performance-driven film is proof of a cinema that is high in content and acting talent and not just business numbers. The film makes for a rather interesting setting for a mass audience as well as it caters to an almost fantasy romance of the improbable. Merry Christmas is categorized in the mystery genre but it is in fact a love story which no one saw coming. The film’s theatrical moments which make the audience laugh out loud, feel and empathise, rests with Vijay Sethupathi and his character’s wry humour. A well-written script is half the battle won; a well-enacted film completes the process.
That a person in Madhya Pradesh will today know an actor from Tamil Nadu who doesn’t look like any of the Khans or the Kapoors, is a huge step towards seeing more diversity in Indian cinema. Vijay Sethupathi has not only enhanced his film career by keeping himself open to both mass films like Jawan and high content films like Merry Christmas, but has also opened doors for other South actors who may not come with stereotypical looks but who may deserve all the merit that’s needed for Hindi or other language cinema to cast them in lead roles.
At a gathering where I met him a few years ago, I had asked Vijay as to how he selects his scripts, so that all his films are different from each other. He answered my question with a question. He asked me, “Why do you think an actor won’t read a script or won’t think for themselves?” Even though my question was not an insinuation, he answered a prevalent broader thought on how people tend to believe that most actors are dumb and don’t read scripts or look at the larger picture before saying yes or no to a project. He laughed at the startled look on my face and continued to tell me his process, how his director friends from Naalaiya Iyakkunar days helped him make inroads into the profession and filmmakers like Seenu Ramasamy and Manikandan built on this foundation. Then came the commercial hit with Vignesh Shivan’s Naanum Rowdythaan and then there was no looking back. I had also asked him, “You do so many small roles as a favor or a cameo or play a villain, won’t it affect your market value? Don’t you think you would be relegated to a character actor and not a hero?” He replied, “I see all these roles in various films and languages as a way to reach more people, this (playing various roles) will in fact, only expand my market and not shrink it.” He had said this when there was no Super Deluxe and Jawan on the horizon.
Watching Vijay Sethupathi in Merry Christmas, my smile broadened when his name was also written in Hindi with his adage “Makkal Selvan” (people’s son/one who’s dear to people). Quite apt I thought as anyone who loves good cinema will love what Vijay Sethupathi does on screen and Hindi cinema can do with a diversity in its heroes who are leading men from the Tamil film industry.
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