Exclusive! Vishnu Vishal: My plans keep changing depending on my successes and failures

It's been more than three years since Vishnu Vishal has had a release which had him playing the protagonist. Manu Anand's FIR, which hits the screens today, has him producing the project, too. He is elated that the movie has done the best pre-release business in his career till date.

In an exclusive interview with OTTplay, the actor-producer gets chatty about the relevant theme of the film, the physical efforts he took to play the character of a terror accused youngster, the growing religious hatred in society, choosing between hero-centric roles and performance-oriented characters and the audience coming back to theatres after lockdown. Excerpts... 

The film revolves around the life of a youngster, belonging to a Muslim community, who is accused of having connection with terrorist groups. What was the prime aspect which attracted you to the movie?

I think it is the universal nature of the story which impressed me. We are living in a world where people who belong to certain religious communities or races are looked at with suspicion. This dangerous practice of stamping people in the name of their religion or belief is on a rise like never before.  

There are two reasons which made me connect to the film's story. From my childhood, I used to get blamed for several things only because I am the son of a police officer. My friends or classmates who indulged in similar things which I did never got criticized. It was me who always had to take the blame.

I remember many people passing comments like 'He is the son of a police officer. No wonder he is arrogant'. People don't try to analyze or understand the cause behind something, but are quite eager to generalize and judge others. So, I know that pain of getting blamed for no reason. 

Secondly, my best friend Syed Mohammad belongs to Muslim community. I can easily understand the pain someone from the community undergoes when he or she is looked at with suspicion. In fact, we have discussed this many times. Our gang of friends never believed in partiality or favouritism. It's really disheartening to see news related to religious hatred in recent times. So when this script came my way, I thought I should take it up. I felt certain things should be addressed.  

According to you, how relevant is this theme in the current times?

I think it is 100 per cent relevant in today's times. I'm sure most of us would have come across such news on social media, television or newspaper and discussed it with our colleagues or friends or family members. Religious intolerance has been escalating across the world, and this should be curbed as soon as possible. I grew up watching my mother praying in a small temple in our home which has all the Gods. As someone who believes in humanity, world peace and harmony, it hurts to see people fighting over religion. 

A few hours before the release of FIR, it was announced that the film has been banned in Malaysia, Qatar and Kuwait. Was this a sudden shock to you and the team?

Yes, it is. We were quite eager to know about the response from several quarters and were prepared for it. But we never expected a complete ban on the movie. There is nothing in the film which makes someone issue a ban on it. We have got it censored in Dubai, Bahrain and a few other countries. I'm surprised with the decision of the ban the three countries have imposed on FIR.

A lot of debates are happening now on Islamophobia. What is your take on it?

It is happening around us and is deeply condemnable, to say the least. Once, Syed had to go through a thorough check in the airport when others, including me, didn't have to undergo it. It was because of the religion he belongs to. This might happen to another religion or caste tomorrow. There are good and bad people everywhere. It's high time we understand this before things become even worse. The gross generalization of people depending on the religion they follow is highly deplorable.  

How cautious were you while shooting for the movie which speaks about a relevant, sensitive topic?

We were quite cautious as we were aware of the fact that the story addresses an important subject. The story discusses an intense and deep topic, and hence, we ensured not to hurt anyone with its screenplay. We had omitted a few scenes and dialogues later as we felt it may not be conveyed properly. 

The project was supposed to be released two years ago. How did the delay affect the team?

That's not true. The film was complete in every sense only six months ago. It's true that the lockdown affected its shooting and we had to wait for two years. There were many unanticipated challenges. Someone who was supposed to bankroll the film walked away midway and I had to take up the role of the producer. 

You appear in a beefed up avatar in the film. How taxing was it to be physically fit for the movie?

I would say it is my perseverance which helped me attain a flawless physique. The personal issues I underwent a couple of years ago took a toll on me. Later, almost 10 projects of mine were dropped after an initial round of discussions happened. I used to wonder what went wrong with me after Ratsasan which went on to garner accolades like never before.

I realized there is no common reason for why many films had to be dropped before taking off. I was really upset and wanted to bounce back both personally and professionally. This frustration helped me to work out with a vengeance which came handy for the character in FIR. The difficult part was to maintain the ripped physique during the lockdown. 

As an actor and a producer, do you think the audience has started coming back to theatres?

I have huge hopes on the audience. We have enough evidences to believe that people have supported good films after the first and second lockdown. Now, we are going through endemic; we have understood that we have to live with it. So, I have no reservations about people accepting a well-made movie. I'm glad to say that the biggest pre-release offer in my career happened during the lockdown.

FIR is getting released in Telugu as well. Going forward, do you plan to release your movies simultaneously in different languages?

I was keen on a Telugu release for Ratsasan as well, but it didn't happen. So when I became the producer for FIR, I decided to release its Telugu version, too. Moreover, since the movie deals with a universal topic, I thought it has a better scope to connect with other language audiences as well.

Language is no more a barrier now for films which deal with universal subjects. Having said that, every film cannot have a release in multiple languages.  

How do you handle successes and failures?

I believe success is the outcome of hard work put in by many people where as the sole reason for failure is because of that one decision I had made somewhere during the filming process or pre-production or post-production. I go crazy when my film fails to deliver and become too obsessed with thinking about what went wrong with it. I do a lot of analysis until I figure out the reason. I learn from successes as well; Ratsasan's huge success taught me a lot with regard to cinema business.

The general notion is that Vishnu Vishal becomes part of only those films which have something different to offer. As an actor, are you more inclined towards choosing different subjects or those hero-centric scripts which provide the ticket to stardom?

I want to strike a fine balance between both. There were times when I thought I had to be part of only those films which offer me the opportunity to bring out the performance in me. Later, I felt I should do commercially-driven movies, too, which helps me become a star as well. It all depends on the situation. My plans keep changing when a few films of mine enjoy back-to-back success or end up as failures.