Thug Life actor Ashok Selvan Interview: I would love to play a well-written villain role

The film industry works in mysterious ways. It’s sheer luck for some, while for others, it could be an accidental entry that makes them who they are now. There is also the concept of being at the right time at the right place, and for others, the straight and hardworking route of genuine efforts comes with a payoff. For Ashok Selvan, who is going to star in what is his biggest project to date, Thug Life, it is a mixture of everything.

“I think it starts from the intention. Like they say in ancient texts that the world was created with an intention. I have stood outside Mani sir’s Madras Talkies office for over a week in 2011. I had really wanted to work with him and if you see it that way, it is a manifestation. But again, it did not happen overnight, but over 14 years. I took a lot of work, and not just manifestation. I think it is a combination of intention, hard work, manifestation, and a bit of it also goes to Mani sir for calling me. He could have called anyone, but he did call me,” says the Thug Life actor, who will be working with Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan for the first time.

“It was exciting, a little bit of nervousness of what I am going to do. It felt like Soodhu Kavvum after 12 years. It felt like I was doing my first film.”

Thug Life actor Ashok Selvan Interview:

Ashwath Marimuthu with Oh My Kadavule, Vignesh Raja with Por Thozhil, and Jayakumar with Blue Star, are only a few of the many fresh voices that Ashok Selvan had introduced to Tamil cinema. The actor, who takes immense pride in working with debutants, is now working with stalwarts of the industry in Thug Life. Ashok Selvan says there is a huge difference. “It is like going from LKG to college, because on the sets of debutants’, I am the star, but here on the sets of Thug Life, you are surrounded by stars,” he adds, as the actor mentions even beyond actors like Simbu, Nasser and others, the technical crew too is loaded with star power, including cinematographer Ravi K Chandran, and art director Sharmishta Roy. “All of them are legends, and working with them is different because they are people with minimal words. My age is their experience, and they communicate minimally with each other because they understand each one is saying.

Ashok Selvan goes on to talk about Mani Ratnam’s style of working in the speed of light. “With Mani sir, timing was so fast and he keeps the shot as early as 7.30. Despite working with many newcomers, I think he is the fastest. It was a new thing because I thought a big film would take it very slow, sometimes one scene a day, but it was faster than the debutants. And the learning is so much by just observing, how they approach the craft, how a scene is staged, and how he asks for certain things. He does not necessarily act and show, but uses keywords. Once we understand it sharply, we can do it the right way.” And invariably, Ashok Selvan calls him the “kid in the family” of Thug Life. “I am just a kid running around on the big sets filled with stars.”

No conversation surrounding Thug Life has escaped the mention of Nayakan, the first collaboration between Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan. The film, which explored the life of a gangster at various stages, has him pitted against a young cop (then played by Nasser). Now, in Thug Life, a parallel can be drawn given that the young actor plays a cop. “The film is not connected to Nayakan at all. During my shoot, Kamal sir had said to Nasser sir, about how he could see somebody like him, through me. When you hear it from the master himself, I take it as a big compliment. I have huge respect for Nasser sir, and I respect his work. However, that being said, my character is very different from what Nasser sir had played in Nayakan.”

“It is an interesting role, and cop is what people say, but I haven’t. It is an interesting character and one of the spokes in a giant wheel,” Ashok Selvan says, adding a tinge of mystery and cautious enough not to give away any spoilers.

On dubbing for Mufasa: The Lion King

Prior to the release of Thug Life, Ashok Selvan made an interesting stint as a dubbing artist and lent his voice as Taka in the 2024 animated film Mufasa: The Lion King, Tamil. The actor not only played with his voice modulations, but also gave an endearing and empathetic characterisation to his character, who served as the antagonist in the film. Speaking about this, Ashok Selvan reveals how dubbing is his least favourite process in the filmmaking experience. “I always feel tired of recreating something that I have acted, because I would have gone into another space while enacting it. Dubbing becomes a manual job over time, but during the course of my career, I began to embrace it.”

When the offer of The Lion King came, the actor says he was not interested at first, even though the movie is his childhood favourite. “But when they said it is the role of Taka, which was very interesting. I love the performance of Scar in the cartoon, and I wanted to touch the range of the character, the villainess side. It is a flamboyant evil. Later, I realised it is Taka, the childhood version which is very innocent. Then I saw the whole film, and I felt bad for Taka. I enjoyed doing it even as it was very hard initially for the first few tries, especially dubbing for an animal. But when we went into the humour scenes, I could improvise so much. It was more of a personal gratification.”

Speaking about playing an antagonist, Ashok Selvan says, “Well, many have said I do have that face cut of a villain, or that of a vampire. I do want to play a villain. I do not see a difference between a hero and a villain. There are no interesting villain roles written here, but I hope they do, and I would take it up if I like it. It doesn’t matter what the market says because I have always gone against what it says and done only what I wanted. I would take it up if it is interesting.”

The actor also talks about another 2024 film, Blue Star, which features the actor as a cricketer who has to battle oppression to find a place of equality. “I listened to the story and found it interesting. I played cricket for the school team, and I wanted to play cricket in one of my films. But I also loved Shanthnu’s character, who has a better arc than mine. When Jayakumar narrated the story, I asked him to develop that character more because the story needed it. My intention is for the film to work, and that is when the glory," he adds.

Speaking about his upcoming films, Ashok Selvan confirms that he will be reuniting with Thegidi director P Ramesh for another film, the announcement to follow. “It is a fresh film, and not a sequel to Thegidi. He has been writing the script and is a fantastic director. I am so excited to start the film. I am also shooting for another film with Vignesh Raja’s script. We have shot 70% and it will be an engaging thriller,” Ashok Selvan concludes.