Exclusive | Sonu Sood reminisces working with Vijayakanth in his debut film Kallazhagar: He helped launch my career

In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, Sonu Sood opens up about his association with late actor Vijayakanth.

Vijayakanth’s death has left a void that cannot be filled, state fans and celebs alike on social media. The actor who passed away at age 71 on Thursday morning was known not just for his philanthropy, but for also encouraging new talent in Tamil cinema. Actor Sonu Sood is one of the many who got a kickstart in the film industry thanks to him. Talking to Hindustan Times, Sonu reminisces about his debut film, his association with the late actor-politician and more. (Also Read: Captain Vijayakanth no more: Kamal Haasan, Jr NTR, Trisha and others mourn his passing)

Sonu Sood goes down memory lane and shares his memories of working with Vijayakanth (Instagram)

‘Vijayakanth is the nicest person I’ve met’

In 1998 Vijayakanth came across a picture of Sonu flexing his muscles on a bike. This led to him getting his on-screen debut in 1999 with Kallazhagar in which he played a priest by the name of Soumya Narayanan. The film opened doors for him to continue acting in Tamil and Telugu before his big Hindi debut in 2002 with Shaheed-E-Azam. “Vijayakanth is one of the finest actors and the nicest people I’ve ever worked with,” Sonu tells us.

I vividly remember how we shot for my debut in Madurai. I was new to the industry but he helped me so much.

‘He gave me the time I needed’

Sonu remembers how he was surprised by Vijayakanth’s willingness to halt shooting for him. “There’s a fight scene in the climax between us and I needed not just to build my body but also train for it. I asked for a month’s time and Vijayakanth willingly stopped shooting for me,” he explains, adding, “I put on weight for the climax and stayed in Chennai for a month to train. I would train with three fighters at Marina Beach every single day.”

Vijayakanth didn’t just take care of me and checked up on the progress the month I was there, he made sure the fighters taught me well.

‘I owe everything to him’

The very climax fight Sonu shot for would make people sit up and take notice. In fact, Vijayakanth even predicted Sonu’s success. “We shot the climax sequence at the Botanical Gardens. I am a trained fighter today because he let me take my time to get the sequence right and let me learn,” says Sonu, adding, “He told me the film will do wonders for me and he was right. I owe everything to Vijayakanth because he introduced me to the film industry.”

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