The nine-year-old actor told The Hindu about preparing for a scene and working with Vijay Sethupathi.
Nine-year-old Sai Prithviraj plays Sabari, the protagonist of Tamil film Baththa, directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan and starring Vijay Sethupathi. The film opened in theatres on Oct. 1. In an interview with The Hindu, Sai said he was pleased with the reception and was waiting to hear what his school friends would say when he returned to class.
Sai became interested in acting through his sister Kayal, who also works in films and helped him practise after school. He attends dance and football classes but has never taken acting lessons. He described the shoot as enjoyable, though running in slippers was difficult.
Balaji, whose films Sai admires, gave him precise instructions on set but did not explain the whole story; he simply told the boy to play Sabari. Sai remembered a scene in which his character stutters while telling an adult what he has been through. Assistant director Navaneeth began preparing him several days before filming and explained the emotion of the scene.
Vijay Sethupathi also offered to help if Sai had questions. The child actor said his co-stars treated him like a friend, while Sethupathi praised his performance and reminded him that education matters. Sai’s next project is a film with Dhanush, the actor’s 56th, directed by Tamizharasan Pachamuthu of Lubber Pandhu fame.