Sometime in the future, Arya might just consider fitness training as an alternative career option. Just scroll through his Twitter account and you’ll know why. It is filled with followers (he calls the guys ‘bro’ and the girls ‘darling’) posting their daily workout regime and the actor commenting on how they’ve fared and egging them on to do better.
Thankfully, he doesn’t need to think of taking it up as a profession; his movies — which have been his bread and butter for the last 10 years — have been faring well. Which is perhaps why he’s hit a quarter century at the box office — his upcoming release Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga (VSOP) is currently being promoted as his 25th film.
“Yes, it is a milestone,” he says, seated at the T. Nagar office of director Rajesh. “But what I consider an achievement is that I did all this without hailing from a film background. Here, you cannot generate your own victory — you have to depend on a director or producer for each film. At a time when even close family members think twice before giving money, a producer in the industry is investing crores on me. For that, they should like me. I’m happy that people have liked me in the last 10 years.”
His journey in tinseltown began with Arindhum Ariyamalum ; his eyes and looks came in for much attention from women then. A decade later, things haven’t changed much. “I have never thought of an image or tag associated with me. I do not expect audiences to receive me as I would like them to; I’m quite happy with the perception they have of me.”
That perception is primarily based on the characters he portrays on screen and his off-screen personality. Arya, for many, comes across as fun and happy-go-lucky, but suddenly surprises you without serious outings, in films like Naan Kadavul . Does he try to consciously maintain a mix? “It doesn’t work that way. A film like Naan Kadavul , for instance, chose me. I’m thankful Bala sir saw that character in me. It’s like a blessing. But there are other projects you try to design, which is also good.”
VSOP is one of them. “Our earlier film Boss Engira Baskaran was a big hit and director Rajesh and I always wanted to work together. The expectation from people is to replicate that formula but we cannot do that. So, it was confusing when we sat down to discuss this film. We decided to retain comedy throughout, but the elements we have woven are from current times. In VSOP , we’re reflecting on funny situations that happen in every day life these days.”
Off films, Arya is a complete outdoors person; he was that kid in school who was always on the playground, getting his uniform dirty.
It’s this streak in him that made him head to Sweden, where he participated in the gruelling 300-kilometre cycling event called the Vatternrundan. How did he get interested in cycling? “I wanted to lose weight for Raja Rani and cycling was the easiest way. Soon, I was hooked on to it. At one stage, I wanted to challenge myself to do something bigger; that’s when I learnt about the Vatternrundan, an event that has been taking place for the last 50 years.”
He put together a team. They practised vigorously for eight months and went to Sweden. “It was only on reaching there that we realised that we were way below international fitness standards,” he admits. They completed the race, but Arya’s takeaway from the whole exercise was how crucial fitness was in everyday life.
“I wanted people back here to have a reality check on their fitness levels,” he says, referring to his constant interactions on social media about workout regimes. He adds, “Fitness is actually a lot of fun when you have company. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger has a workout partner when he’s training. When you motivate other people, it changes the way they think about life.”
He sounds serious, and he is, a stark difference from the carefree, fun-loving character he usually plays in the movies. Is Arya, the ‘cool dude’ of Kollywood, a serious person as well? “Anything can be made serious if you want it to be. Right from childhood, I’ve faced many situations which would normally be described as ‘serious’ and they have, somewhere along the way, made me more sensible. I think that for any situation, there’s a solution… and if there isn’t, you get out of it. It’s as simple as that.”
What has not been so simple has been the last 10 years (“every film was a struggle since I was able to create a market”). But he has earned much in that time, and we’re not talking about money. “The biggest earnings are the friends I have now, irrespective of the hits or flops. All these genuine friends are my biggest assets.”
