It has been an 11-year wait for model-turned-actor Vinay Rai. After relentlessly playing the eternal chocolate boy in films like Unnale Unnale, Modhi Vilayadu, Mirattal, Endrendrum Punnagai, Serndhu Polama, he got a chance to come out of his comfort zone and play a negative character in the recently released Thupparivaalan.
While Vinay’s performance as the stylish Devil in Mysskin’s Thupparivaalan was appreciated, it was hard for him to shed the chocolate boy image that he is easily associated with. He says it has been a long wait.
“I started my career with such roles, but for how long could I have done that? I wanted to be a good actor and do versatile roles. But I was getting offered only romantic hero roles,” says Vinay.
Turning down some of these roles was one of the challenging part of his career. “After Unnale Unnale, I received a lot of offers on the same lines, the role of a romantic hero. I made a conscious choice to avoid such films and took up Jayamkondan, which was a little different from the usual romantic comedies,” he says.
But Vinay continued to get such roles. “At one point I gave up and started taking up romantic films again. A constant thought kept nagging me – how do I prove my talent and show people that I can do a wide range of roles. I had no choice but to wait for a director who believed in me. Mysskin was one such director. I was thrilled to work on the character, Devil.”
It was Mysskin who insisted on changing Vinay’s trademark hairstyle. “He worked really hard to get the look of my character right. I think it paid off finally with the film’s response and the kind of appreciations I got for my performance,” he says.
Once again, he faces fears of getting pigeonholed into a particular sort of character. “After Thupparivaalan, I’m getting offers to play the villain. Again, I have to consciously choose roles so that I don’t get typecasted.”
Since his debut in 2007, the actor feels that the biggest breakthrough of his career was with Thupparivaalan. His Ayirathil Iruvar, directed by Saran, is scheduled to release this week. “I have no complaints. This is how the industry works. For a person like me who has no support in the industry, it will take time. There is nobody to hand me opportunities on a platter. All the films that I got was because of my hard work, directors who trusted my ability and definitely a stroke of luck,” he says.
Late director Jeeva gave his first break in Unnale Unnale, which was a box office hit. Vinay claims that directors are the ones who can spot talent and change one’s career.
“At the time of Modhi Vilaiyadu, I had many films offers. But later I didn’t get work for two years. It was director Madhesh, who roped me in for a commercial film like Mirattal, when I was not a bankable hero. Sundar C approached me for a blockbuster film like Aranmanai. These directors had approached me because they believed in my work. Same with Mysskin and Saran. Friends and relatives aside, I value the directors who have given me a chance to work in their films,” he says.
Vinay plays a dual role in Aayirathil Iruvar. He says, “I was very curious how double roles work and that is the only reason I agreed to be a part of this film.”
He is also filming for Nethra.
Vinay was modelling before he entered films. He calls himself a shy boy, who accidentally ended up modelling. “I worked as a model for two years before I got my first break in films. I was a shy guy. So, I focused on print ads rather than walking the ramp in front of so many people,” he says. The actor gets a little philosophical and spouts, “Whatever field you are in, the only thing that you have to do is to believe in what you are doing and patiently wait. I just did that and things fell into place.”
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At 6.3 feet, Vinay has a towering presence. But he doesn’t see it that way. “I love my height. When I see myself in front of the camera, I’m proud that I look larger than life. Tall guys in Hollywood like Sean Connery are my heroes. When I went to Madame Tussauds wax museum in London, I stood next to Sean Connery’s statue and found myself shorter than him. Height doesn’t matter, it is our personality that we should be happy about,” adds the actor.
Talking about working with another 6 footer (Vishal in Thupparivaalan), he says, “We had a great time on the sets. My height helps me when it comes to performing an action sequence. But it gets in the way while dancing,” he laughs.
Vinay and Samuthrika starrer Aayirathil Iruvar is releasing today.