Interacted with real rowdies for 'Jigarthanda' role: Simhaa

Actor Simhaa, who impressed audiences with his performance in films such as "Soodhu Kavvum" and "Neram", says he interacted with real-life rowdies to prepare for his role in forthcoming Tamil gangster-drama "Jigarthanda".

Simhaa plays a Madurai-based gangster in the film, which is directed by "Pizza" fame Karthik Subbaraj.

"As part of the homework to prepare for my role, I met lot of real rowdies from Madurai. I spent time with them discussing and studying their behaviour. It helped me with a lot of inputs which I have incorporated in my role in the film," Simhaa told IANS.

"During my interaction with them, I realized that they are common people like us too. We have developed a wrong image about them from what we see in our films. They are normal like us, talk casually like most of us. This helped me to work on my role to perfection," he added.

Having played a comic villain in "Neram", Simhaa is set to enthrall audience with a serious role in "Jigarthanda".

"My role is completely different from what I played in 'Neram'. This role expected me to carry age on my shoulders, work extremely hard on subtle reactions, learn Madurai slang and even make slight changes to my physical appearances," he said.

"I feel this was the most challenging as I had a lot of work to do. In 'Neram' and 'Soodhu Kavvum', I didn't have to change myself so much for the sake of the character, but I did a lot in this film. Overall, it was a great experience," said Simhaa, who enjoys working with director Karthik.

Simhaa worked with Karthik in his directorial debut "Pizza". But he says he knows him since the time he's been making short films.

"I have worked with Karthik in a few short films. I enjoy working with him because he knows what he wants from me exactly. He knows how much to extract from me for a role and that makes working with him very convenient," he said.

"Jigarthanda" features Siddharth in the lead. Simhaa said it was a "pleasure" working with him and considers him to be a "good co-star" and a "great friend".

"Jigarthanda", which also features Lakshmi Menon, Karuna, Guru Somasundaram, Prathap Pothen and Soundara Raja in important roles, is produced by Kathiresan.