‘I DON’T NEED TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT’ …and if you don’t like him because of that, it’s OK, says actor Simbu He’s been missing from Chennai’s social circuit for quite a while now. But now, he’s back on the sets and is currently in the city and shooting for his upcoming Vettai Mannan. In a freewheeling chat, Simbu gets chatting about his recent US trip, how his movies are shaping up and being controversy’s favourite child. You had disappeared from Chennai the last few months… I was in the US completing work on my Love Anthem. Due to the great response on the initial release and based on suggestions, I’ve decided to flesh it out into a full album that will consist of about six to nine songs. I’ll be composing a few numbers and Yuvan will compose a couple of them. I sat on a lot of meetings with music producers, international artist coordinators and musicians and understood the working style in the US. I spoke with a few international artists as well. However, as we have not inked the deal with them yet, I cannot reveal the names right now. Did the Love Anthem take shape much before Kolaveri happened? I was always thinking on the lines of an international number and was mulling about ideas that unite the entire world. That’s how the Love Anthem came up. We were actually planning to finish the entire song and then release it, but a lot of other people are thinking on similar themes as well. For instance, there was Aska Laska which also had the word ‘love’ in several languages. So, we cut a condensed version and released it and will soon be out with the entire number. How was your trip otherwise? It helped me introspect quite a lot. When you’re in Chennai, you’re always thinking about the day’s work and once that’s done, you tend to think about what’s happening the next day. A break like this helped me immensely — it helped me understand a lot of stuff, analyse the kind of cinema I was doing and put things in perspective. You’re controversy’s favourite child I do understand that when you’re a star, what you say matters a lot. The media is sometimes nice to me and sometimes not so nice. But, I want to be true to myself. I don’t feel the need to be politically correct. I’m open and straightforward most of the time and voice out what I feel about things. If you think ill about me for that, it’s OK — I’m happy that I’ve been true to myself. Some people try to run you down… I don’t bother about them. My priority is with my fans and audiences. I respect the fans and well-wishers who have made me what I am and who continue to support me even today. Reports state that your film shootings were stalled because you took off… The whole industry was in a standstill in the last couple of months due to the strike! I’ve kept my producers posted about my whereabouts and there were no issues with regards to my film shoots during this time. Podaa Podi, Vettai Mannan and Vada Chennai… Four songs remain to be shot in Podaa Podi; we’re leaving for Macau in April to commence work on that. Otherwise, the entire talkie portion is complete. As for Vettai Mannan, we’re almost done with the first half of the film and will soon move to Brazil, where most of the second half takes place. It’ll be an action-oriented story that is told in a lighter vein. After these two films, I’ll be doing Vada Chennai w
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