Daniel Caltagirone of Oscar-winning film The Pianist and Angelina Jolie starrer Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life fame made his Indian film debut with PA Ranjith’s Thangalaan starring Chiyaan Vikram. The period action-adventure sees the British actor playing Lord Clement, a British explorer, who is eventually joined by Thangalaan to achieve the latter’s mission. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Daniel reveals that he has watched Ranjith’s earlier films like Madras and Kaala starring Rajinikanth and Sarpatta Parambarai.
Talking about the impact that the south megastar has in the UK, Daniel tells us, “Rajinikanth is one of those Indian actors who has seeped into British culture. You’ll see him on a poster in a certain area in London where there’s a big Indian community. I’ve to confess that I was aware of Rajinikanth not for his work but because of how he looks. He has got very distinctive looks. I love the way he always wears sunglasses! He’s like an Indian Jack Nicholson if you think about it.”
And it was during the promotional events of Thangalaan across south India that he observed the kind of hero worship that prevails. Daniel, in fact, feels ‘privileged’ to ‘experience’ the immense love that audiences have for Chiyaan. “People do scream for Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise but it’s unique because we don’t have that in the West. I lost about 30-40 percent of my hearing because, during the promotions, the screaming and the shouting by fans was unreal,” he recalls.
An overwhelmed Daniel further continues, “In the first couple of days, they kept wondering who I was but since Chiyaan is such a generous individual, he told everyone that I’m his brother. Soon, the word got out and his fans started being very lovely to me. The audience’s reaction towards him is incredible! It’s truly unique to India and I just love that energy which was infectious. What a loyal fan base Chiyaan has! I’m just blown away!”
As for the relationship he shares with Chiyaan, he describes it as “intense”. Speaking about how they connected telepathically, he remarks, “Chiyaan doesn’t throw the word ‘brother’ around a lot. We got along very well. We had a clear understanding of how to work together. We had a psychic understanding of each other. I understood long time ago that if you want to look good, make the other actor look good without being arrogant and jealous about it. It’s important to not upstage other actors.”
And that Daniel feels has helped them connect. “Chiyaan also works on that principle. We would try and make each other better all the time. We would constantly push each other. I like working with such people who aren’t egomaniacs. He could’ve easily upstaged me or made me feel unwelcome because he’s a big Indian star but he didn’t. He made me feel an Indian co-star and not a British actor who’s entering his territory. He made me feel like family and that made my job much easier,” he adds.
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