One could feel the gravity of the moment when Silambarasan TR made his grand entry at the audio launch of Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan 2 in 2022. It was the star’s first major public appearance as ‘Ātman,’ a new version of Simbu who embraced spirituality and returned to the limelight after a lull phase marked by box office duds, controversies, and fitness concerns. But who expected that at an event featuring the likes of Kamal Haasan, AR Rahman and Vikram, Simbu would get the loudest applause, a clip that went viral on the internet. While naysayers hung their heads in disbelief, his ever-loyal fandom took social media by storm. A new Simbu era had dawned after Maanaadu, with the actor far different from the young man we knew from Manmadhan, and the moment spoke volumes about how Tamil audiences honour their heroes and reasserted that they indeed like a good comeback.

On one hand, Simbu doesn’t seem too sure about all this attention on his comeback. Citing how legends in every field have braced lull phases, he blames the social media frenzy for blowing this out of proportion. That isn’t to say he isn’t grateful for this love. He knows he has a very loyal fan base — “There’s a saying about rats leaving a sinking ship; so their loyalty doesn’t show who I am, it shows who they are,” he says — but the reception he got at the PS2 event wasn’t just from his fans. PS2 wasn’t even his film. “Watching someone get back up instils confidence in people, and that’s what I saw there. It felt like the general public was telling me, ‘Hey, we respect what you have done, and we want to give back that respect to you.’” To be looked at as this inspirational figure must put a lot of pressure on one’s shoulders. “No, but that gave me confidence, and I realised there’s no point looking back at the past. I realised I should do what’s required without expecting anything back.”

Watching Simbu in flesh and blood for the first time at that event also brought me memories of the time when he had an unshakable hold on youth. Boys got into trouble for wearing the star’s signature wire wristband to school, while donning headbands became a popular style statement. Even today, a generation of youngsters continues looking up to him, something he says has only made him more responsible. “When I was much younger, I wasn’t aware of the kind of films I was doing or what those films communicated to younger audiences,” he says, before stressing this responsibility shouldn’t interfere with his craft. “See, broadly, I refrain from excessive use of swear words, violence, and glamour, and I haven’t smoked much after Idhu Namma Aalu. But then, if a character needs me to smoke or be violent, I have to do it. That’s how it would be if I did a negative role, for instance. All that we can do then is take a call on how much we indulge in those things.”

His role in Mani Ratnam’s much-anticipated film Thug Life, headlined by Kamal, seems quite violent from the promo material. Doing Thug Life, Simbu says, satisfies a desire most actors harbour. “While watching films like Thevar Magan, where two generations of stars would have acted together, any actor would have wished for one such film to happen, and these films also stand the test of time.” That it happened for him in a Kamal Haasan-starrer feels surreal, he adds. “Right from when I was a child, my father showed Kamal sir as my on-screen guru, so I have always looked up to him. See, even if we need references for, say, a dialect, a walk, or a specific look, we took inspiration from his filmography.” The actor is in awe of how the veteran has stuck to his approach to stardom and craft. “He doesn’t care too much about what doing a certain role might do to his image, but rather thinks about what he brings to the table. It’s about doing something interesting, something different and better than the previous film.”

At a level where most might get trapped inside echo chambers, Kamal has managed to stay anchored in his journey as an artist. That he calls himself a student of cinema feels validating to Simbu. “See, I can say that I am a student because I have a long way to go, but if Kamal sir still feels like a student, it means I am too on the right path.” Even the opportunity to be part of Thug Life, he adds, is a validation, “for all the effort I have put in for 40 years since I was a child artist. Because for Mani Ratnam sir to write such a character, to look at me as a good fit for it, and for Kamal sir to accept his decision…It’s all a bit surreal, to say the least.”

Simbu’s role in Thug Life, he says, balances ‘mass’ and ‘class.’ “I am a peculiar hero with audiences who like both these schools of acting. You can’t call me an out-and-out classy actor, nor am I just after mass. I can do both, it’s great to do roles that balance these schools. In Thug Life, you will find a classy, performance-oriented Simbu and a raw and stylish Simbu.”

STR is also returning to a Mani Ratnam set, almost seven years after Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, a film during which the star realised that he was struggling to perform well due to his then poor physical form. He had previously revealed he broke down after shooting an action scene in that film and that the experience ushered him towards a transformative journey. Thug Life, too, is loaded with action, and Mani Ratnam was happy with how STR now moves and dances, says the star. “He would enjoy watching me perform and say, ‘You are looking good. Superb.’ So I realised going through that weight-loss journey is adding more to what we’re doing.” You might be surprised to hear Simbu say that, while the way he was body-shamed back then wasn’t right, there’s some truth to it since “being an actor and losing your fitness like that is a minus.”

But isn’t reducing weight and bulking up for roles almost a routine in places like Hollywood? Perhaps this toxicity points to something deeply embedded in how Indian audiences see their stars. Simbu doesn’t think so; he says it’s just the case of a jealous few pouncing upon finding a reason to troll. “My weight gain was also initially for a film, and if needed, I could have brought myself back to shape. But by then, I had already given a window of opportunity to those who were also desperately looking for a reason to pull me down. But I realised I couldn’t keep complaining about it, and that’s where this fitness journey began.”

It’s not just his fitness; anything and everything about Simbu gets put under the media scanner. After facing immense criticism and battling numerous controversies, Simbu began following the Buddhist principle that goes, “When you receive something (here, criticism) from someone, then it becomes yours. But if you reject it, it stays with them.” But surely that odd negative review for a film or a comment on his acting must break his defences, right? “Earlier, the results of my films affected me, but I used to find ways to channel that into what I do next. But I have realised we can’t seek validation from successes and failures. Many suffer because they seek validation externally and let others control their happiness. You need to take control of yourself and find validation from within.”

Simbu has, over the years, also been criticised as an actor who doesn’t push himself enough, as a star who is sleeping on his talents. The actor believes this is because he has yet to find solid scripts that could bring the best out of him. “There’s no space to give your full potential in a script that any actor can pull off”. Simbu has pinned his hopes on his upcoming film with director Desingh Periyasamy to do that. “But see, even to get that on the floors, we have been waiting for two years now. Look at Kamal sir; he would have done about ten such films, like Avvai Shanmugi or Dasavatharam, but there’s a longer list of films that he couldn’t materialise.” The star has no qualms saying that every time he wishes to do a project like that, he finds that his market then cannot sustain the scale of that project. “So when more people watch my movies, and the more they perform well at the box office, the more it allows me to give my best.”

Of late, many A-list Tamil stars have come out with films — like Petta, Vikram and Good Bad Ugly — that are dubbed as fanboy sambavams; these films feature aspects that appease the die-hard fans of those stars, like cameos and callbacks to the stars’ previous films. Simbu’s upcoming film with Ashwath Marimuthu also hints at being one such film; the first look poster featured the star, wearing wire bands, bracelets and the check mark tattoo from Dum, throwing his iconic ‘box’ sign.

“Yes, it is a fanboy sambavam, but it wouldn’t just be a film for the fans. It will become a film that even those who don’t know me would enjoy. Fanboy sambavams should be like Vikram — it shouldn’t just appease the star’s fans but be celebrated unanimously by all.” Will we also see more of STR as a singer? “Yes, there’s a lot of that coming up in my next few films,” he signs off.

Thug Life releases in theatres on June 5

Published - May 24, 2025 05:53 pm IST