Exclusive! Tharun Kumar: During the lockdown, actors were able to breathe a sigh of relief only because of OTT projects

Tharun Kumar, who was last seen playing the lead in the award-winning film Thaen, has bagged a big project now. He will be seen essaying the main antagonist in Arun Vijay-starrer Tamil Stalkers, the web series, being produced by AVM Productions, with Arivazhagan at the helm. The series, the shooting of which, is expected to be wrapped up in October, will be premiered on SonyLIV. Interestingly, Thaen, too, released on SonyLIV a few months ago. 

In fact, the streaming platform forayed into Tamil with the Ganesh Vinayakan directorial. It was the only Tamil movie, apart from Vetri Maaran's Dhanush-starrer Asuran, which got screened at the Indian Panorama 2020 in Goa. Tharun had also won the Best Actor award at the 11th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival 2021. The latest recognition the movie received was when the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Puducherry, announced it as the Best Film of 2020, a couple of days ago.  

All elated about his role in Tamil Stalkers, Tharun says that his character will be completely in contrast to what he had essayed in Thaen. "I have a different body language and appearance in the series. Unlike Thaen, in which I played a naive and illiterate person who hailed from a remote village, I will be seen in a stylish avatar this time. I have been hitting the gym regularly; I have gained a few kilos and I am part of action scenes as well," he says excitedly.     

On playing a full-fledged villain role, Tharun says it's interesting to be pitted against someone like Arun Vijay in a project which has loads of action. "Playing a villain is fun. It's a great feeling to imagine that your performance will elevate the heroism of the protagonist. It's also a big responsibility and offers scope to experiment, too," he smiles.    

According to him, the web series will be a never-before-seen attempt in Tamil. Tharun says, "It is a crime thriller and will have ample twists and turns. I know Arivazhagan sir for quite some time, and we have been constantly discussing about projects. He felt I would fit the bill for the antagonist's role in the series." On the influx in the number of web series in Tamil, he believes it is a revolution which is providing opportunities for actors to showcase their talent. 

He explains, "During the first and second lockdown, when theatres were closed, actors breathed a sigh of relief with regard to exposure and income because of OTT projects. It's true that watching films on big screens is a festival. But many of us had works during the pandemic only because of the OTT platforms."

Tharun, who has Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Ayalaan and the long-delayed Arya-starrer Santhana Devan in his kitty, is kicked about playing the lead in two more films. "One of them, directed by Karthik Ram, is a beautiful love story, while the other, which has MS Bharani at the helm, is a horror thriller, which has interesting commercial elements," he says, adding, "I have done more than 20 movies, and I was looking forward to do a love story. I'm happy that I have finally landed one such project.