Tamil cinema star Sivakarthikeyan revealed his unlikely path from computer science engineering to entertainment during a conversation with actor-politician Khushbu Sundar at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
The actor, whose recent military drama “Amaran” has performed strongly at the box office, traced his beginnings as a mimicry artist during his engineering college days. “My first stage was in my college when I was doing my engineering. My friends pushed me onto the stage and said, ‘Do whatever you feel like, audience should enjoy,’” Sivakarthikeyan recalled.
Following his father’s death during his college years, Sivakarthikeyan turned to entertainment as a form of therapy. “I was depressed. I didn’t know what to do. To escape from the depression, from that sadness, I got onto the stage where claps and appreciation was the therapy,” he said.
The actor detailed his strategic entry into television in 2007, specifically choosing to become a host rather than remain a mimicry artist. “Television host comes for full one hour because they say the show’s name, so they cannot edit that,” he explained, describing it as his calculated move to gain more screen time.
Speaking about his recent portrayal of Major Mukund Varadarajan in “Amaran,” Sivakarthikeyan credited the film’s success to the real-life soldier’s selflessness. “He was from Chennai, from this tip of India. He went there, to Kashmir to save all the people there. Didn’t even think about his family that time, his daughter was three and half years old and he didn’t even think about it. He saved his own team, a true leader. So this film’s success is because of his sacrifice. Sacrifice is the biggest, biggest, biggest heroism,” he said.
On managing industry pressures, Sivakarthikeyan revealed he contemplated quitting the industry, but was encouraged to continue by his wife Aarthi. He also addressed his reduced social media presence: “Last two years, I’m using social media very less. If you want to use, you use internet. This is my kind advice, but don’t use much of social media, especially Twitter. Maybe, I think Elon Musk might block my account, that will be the first success I think for me.”
The actor emphasized the importance of family support throughout his career transition, crediting his mother’s guidance despite her limited formal education. “My mom did only eighth standard, but she knows life better than me,” he noted.
Currently riding high on the success of his recent releases, Sivakarthikeyan confirmed he will focus solely on acting rather than pursuing direction or scriptwriting, stating he wants to “become a better actor” rather than risk spreading himself too thin across different roles in the industry.
