Bollywood and Marathi actor Sharad Kelkar was in Chennai recently, and in an interview with us, the Family Man actor spoke about making his Tamil film debut with the Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Ayalaan, communicating effortlessly on the set despite not knowing the language, his connection with Tamil, his thoughts on OTT and cinema, and the next season of his popular OTT show. Excerpts:

My first meeting with Ravikumar was very pleasant. When I asked director R Ravikumar why he wanted me — someone with no connection to the Tamil film industry — for the role — he said, “I have seen your work and I feel like this character is for you.” He was quite sure about me playing the role. I was surprised, but I was also very convinced with the conviction he had. Working on this film has been great, as it was a different process altogether.

I don’t speak Tamil, and Ravikumar speaks mostly Tamil. I don’t know how, but somehow, we communicated with each other so effortlessly and fluently, it was amazing. It’s probably because of our love for cinema and how passionate we both were about the project that language wasn’t a barrier for us. To me, cinema doesn’t have any language and this was proved on the sets of our film.

This film is very different with a unique format. It’s sci-fi, and it felt like we were working on the sets of a Hollywood movie. We had to have new techniques, because essentially you are fighting things that aren’t there, that’s how it is when you are a shadow fighter. This film was a new process for all of us, but we had fun. We were like kids on set, because we didn’t know what it was going to look like. We would keep asking Ravi what it would look like, and he’d say, “Don’t worry, you guys just act!” We would take multiple shots for one scene. It was a hectic shoot, but it was all very interesting, new and fun. There is a different pattern of filmmaking in the Tamil industry and I find it very interesting. And it actually caters to the audience.

My character is the antagonist who wants the alien’s superpower and is set against Sivakarthikeyan’s character, who is friends with the alien. When you are hungry for power and new technology, you get greedy for more, and that’s my character in the film.

I think we need to be smarter as an industry as to what should go on OTT and what shouldn’t. The south film industries have certain unwritten rules and regulations that they follow, and that should be the way to operate, because not everything should be on OTT. The timeline for the release on OTT has to be discussed in the industry and acted upon accordingly. I completely agree with what Ravi Teja had said in an interview... that we are all part of one industry, and we have to work towards that.

The writing for Family Man Season 3 is still happening. They should be done by December and we might start shooting in January. As for the equation between my character Arvind and Suchi (played by Priya Mani), Arvind is a sweet guy, but I don’t know what is in store for them. I don’t think on those lines, I leave it to the writers. The audience has so many theories and the writers are always looking for fresh ideas.