Hailing from a non-filmy background, Siddharth is intent upon carving a niche for himself and promoting an edgier kind of cinema, and 2014 is the year that he’s going to give this his best shot. At the moment, with his newest release Jigarthanda generating some wonderful buzz, the actor’s on a high and he can’t stop gushing about Jigarthanda. Here’s part one of a two-part interview with Siddharth.

I never really wanted to be an actor – I wanted to be in the movies as a writer, filmmaker and director. Screen acting happened after I joined Mani Ratnam (as assistant director for Kannathil Muthamittal) and I took it up quite casually. It’s been 12 years now! Today, I look at it as my main job, something I try to get better at since I started.

I grew up wanting to be a director and even as a wannabe director, the one person who was an inspiration for me was Kamal Haasan. I still maintain after 12 years in the business that what he did 25-30 years ago sowed the seeds (in acting, technical and otherwise) for things we try to do today (like Jigarthanda).

After my MBA, I got accepted to a film school in the US but didn’t go. I just thought it made more sense to get hands-on training. When I joined the film industry in 2000, it was in state of flux – a lot of technology was changing (like Avid or surround sound) and I was glad I was an AD at that time because I’d have lost out on a lot otherwise.

When I started off, I didn’t think I’d be doing this for this long. The journey is always fascinating and unpredictable. It’s a Friday-to-Friday existence and it’s something you can never really take for granted. I’ve seen quite a few ups and downs in my career and lot of moving around over the last 12 years, so in that sense I am still trying to find myself and still continuing and hoping to learn something new from someone every day. This year, 2014, is a huge litmus test for me – I’ve done three films and I’ve wanted to do this kind of cinema for a long time; 2014 will decide the next 10 years of my life as an actor.

I have a unique record of launching more first-time directors than anyone else. I’ve worked with more than 15 first-time directors. I don’t see too much of difference between an experienced director and a first-timer, because on the sets they are the captains of the ship.

At the same time, each director is different – there are specific differences between each one of them and they are unique. I don’t look for a newcomer or an experienced director when I look at a script. I just pick up the best. And I’m happy to say that Jigarthanda, Kaaviya Thalaivan and remake of Lucia are the best I’ve been offered in a long time.

Latha Srinivasan