Chiyaan Vikram: ‘Thangalaan is the most difficult film of my career’

Chiyaan Vikram

Team Thangalaan recently visited Bengaluru as part of the film's promotional tour. Chiyaan Vikram reflected on his experience, describing ‘Thangalaan' as the most challenging project of his career. Vikram said, "I've played many unique roles in films like Anniyan and Pithamagan, but Thangalaan is a standout. This is the most difficult film of my career. We encountered numerous challenges in every scene, including injuries during the shoot. Even the romantic scenes were tough."

He went on to explain, "The real challenge was portraying characters from the British colonial era and indigenous tribes - people we didn't fully understand. We had to embody them, not just act like them. It felt like we were transported back a century."

To fully prepare for the character, Vikram underwent six months of intense training and significantly reduced his weight. He mentioned that the psychological demands of the role were even more taxing than the physical transformation, with daily filming requiring four to five hours of makeup.

Vikram also acknowledged ‘Kantara', a film directed by and starring Rishab Shetty, as a significant influence in elevating ‘Thangalaan' to a grander scale. "That film demonstrated that good content can reach any corner of the world," he said, praising ‘Kantara' for its global reach.

On the other hand, Pa. Ranjith characterized ‘Thangalaan' as a historical film distinct from Prashanth Neel's ‘KGF', which stars Yash. "While KGF focused on Rocky Bhai, Thangalaan is about a community from a century ago. During the Mysore state period, diverse people inhabited the KGF area. The film also examines the aftermath of discovering gold, along with colonialism and societal inequalities that affected the community," Ranjith elaborated.

‘Thangalaan' is going to be yet another cinematic spectacle from the South. It is a real story of Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) when KGF was discovered by the British who exploited and looted it for their own purpose. The film is going to take ahead the spree of the South industry of bringing unique concepts to the audience. It's yet another film from the South with an unusual concept.

Directed by Pa. Ranjith, ‘Thangalaan' starring Chiyaan Vikram and Malavika Mohanan in a prominent role is scheduled for a worldwide release on August 15, 2024, in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. The music of the film is composed by G.V. Prakash Kumar.