'Sulthan', directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan and starring Karthi in the lead, will hit the screens on April 2. The 'Khaidi' and 'China Babu' actor has played an interesting role in this action-family film where Rashmika Mandanna has got an angry role.

In these excerpts from Karthi's latest interview, find out what the actor has to say about the film, his association with Akkineni Nagarjuna, doing Mani Ratnam's 'Ponniyan Selvan' and a lot more.

Excerpts:

The premise of the film is that my character has to prevent fights from breaking out among one hundred rowdies. Now, that is an uphill task, considering that it's not easy to keep a family of four from quarreling. I loved the premise and okayed the project in 20 minutes before listening to the full script.

This is director Bakkiyaraj Kannan's second film. When I listened to the story, I knew that its scale is huge. And it was not an easy film to shoot. We had to use advanced lenses since more than a hundred people would be there on the sets all the time. Six-seven buses would be used for commutation. It was as if a big event was going on every day. For the first few days, it was a question as to how to handle those many artists at once.

Rashmika Mandanna always cooperated with us during the pandemic. 'Sulthan' is a very good launch for her in Tamil. She really enjoyed doing her first Tamil film. She will be seen as a village belle. In action films, female leads are usually limited to songs. But 'Sulthan' is different. She has got a bold and angry character.

We are releasing the film on April 2 despite the elections in Tamil Nadu on that day. We had planned a Pongal release but somehow couldn't. We rejected OTT offers last year. South Indian films doing well is great hope for the film industry. We have been advised by several stakeholders to desist from going for OTT with respect to 'Sulthan'. It's important sometimes to take a risk. But the confidence has to come from the strength of the content.

Since there are only very few dull moments in 'Sulthan', the songs (by Vivek-Merwin) are happy. Yuvan Shankar Raja's BGM is another highlight.

There will a hundred Covid films in the coming years (laughs). Covid jokes, Covid-based situations will be seen aplenty in films.

'Aakasam Nee Haddu Raa' (starring Suriya) had to be released on OTT because it had been in the making for long. It was the producer's decision, actually.

'Ponniyan Selvan' is a lifetime experience. About 70% of the film has been completed. It's a two-part movie.

People ask me when I will be doing another straight Telugu film. I don't have an answer. When a good script comes my way, I will definitely do it.

I have no interest to do web series if the content is similar to what we do in mainstream movies. OTT has to result in experimentation for me.

I am a votary of all kinds of cinema - be it commercial ones or offbeat ones like Iranian films. I loved 'Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo', too.

It's sweet of Nagarjuna sir to have wished our film all the best. His 'Wild Dog', too, is coming out on April 2. When I landed in Hyderabad today, I called him up first thing and thanked him.