“I am happy,” the actor says after thinking for a moment when probed about how he feels now. It has been a long journey of 25 years for Soori to finally arrive at a place where he thinks he can do a decent job with any kind of role. This made up for a riotous comedy scene, and the actor earned the moniker ‘Parotta Soori’. Though he had been in the industry since 1997, he grabbed the spotlight with the film Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu (2009), where he gobbles down fifty parottas to win a bet. Soori is one of the few success stories among many everyday people from Madurai making it big in Kodambakkam’s impenetrable cinema industry. The difference between the two is often stressed by late legendary filmmaker Balu Mahendra, and it is his assistant, Vetrimaaran, who is directing Soori in the lead role in Viduthalai.
Yet, what makes his level-up special is that he is not turning into a hero, but a protagonist. Soori is the latest addition to the list of comedian-turned-lead actors.
