‘Khaidi’ is engaging, action-driven: Karthi

‘Khaidi’ will hit the screens on October 25.  Starring Karthi in the lead, it has been directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj.  In this interview, Karthi talks about the film, what makes it unique, experimenting with ‘Khakee’ and others, and more.  

A gripping, dark movie

This is the director’s second film.  His style of narrating a story is very novel. He told me that ‘Khaidi’ is a small film but when I listened to him, I understood that it’s not a small film.  The entire story unfolds in 4 hours.  It’s a dark film that has huge action scenes.  I told him to hike the budget.  

My character in the movie

My character comes out of jail after serving 10 years of jail.  He has never seen his daughter.  The climax is about whether he can see his daughter finally.  Since I am a father in real life, I had a sense of how to play the role.  When it’s a daughter, a father will become all the more protective.  Why my character goes to jail, etc is very interesting. Nobody knows about his past.  That makes him all the more interesting.   The narration is so new that even a boy is a hero for just one scene.  This is not a one-hero movie.  Narain has a prominent role.  

Realistic, superior

The dialogues are very true-to-life and a lot of scenes are refreshing.  The director’s first film, in which Sundeep Kishan acted, was a complete night film.  So also this one.  We decided to make ‘Khaidi’ as a technically superior movie. There are many characters in the film. There is a college boy, there are gangsters, there is an old cop.  

Audience are evolving

The audience are evolving, now that people are exposed to Netflix, Amazon, etc.  They are watching the stylish thrillers of an Adivi Sesh.  They are watching an ‘Arjun Reddy’.  People are watching OTT stuff even in villages.  I have done movies like ‘Khakee’ with the confidence that they will be accepted.  In ‘Khaidi’, when the entire story is about what happens within four hours, there is no scope for songs.  The run-time of ‘Khaidi’ is 140 minutes even though there are no songs.  The subject is strong.  

‘Khakee’ Vs ‘Khaidi’

When ‘Khakee’ was narrated first, I felt it was too heavy.  The love story was inserted after this.  The film required some other emotion other than just one dimension.  ‘Khaidi’, on the other hand, is eclectic.  It has diversity.  It’s like ‘Die Hard’, about which people talk to this day.  

Giving new stuff

‘Khakee’ did very well in Telugu.  ‘Chinababu’ was a blockbuster in Tamil (as ‘Kadaikutty Singham’).  People expect refreshing stuff from me.  That’s what ‘Khaidi’ ensures.  Everybody wants to watch some or the other film during festivals.  The films of Rajinikanth sir and Ajith sir did very well this Pongal in Tamil.  

Do what you like

A riskshaw-puller once told filmmakers to just do movies that they like without bothering about whether the audience will like it.  I don’t analyze failures, as it will make me confused.  

Upcoming movie

I will be doing a family thriller with Jithu Joseph.  My ‘vadina’ Jyothika will be seen as my sister in the movie.