Satyaraj interviews Satyaraj!

One of the depressing things about Sun TV is its over reliance on films and all things film-related. The bulk of its programming is taken up by films, film songs, interviews with film personalities and selective sequences from films. Even more depressing is the lack of variety and creativity in such programs. Interviews are usually conducted in a colorfully decorated set with an interviewer gushing over the star and asking a few standard questions that elicit predictable answers. So this morning's interview with Satyaraj was a pleasant surprise. Titled Satyaraj vs Rangaraj, it had the actor in his normal appearance sans makeup, interview himself in full getup as an actor.

The show was technically good with no apparent goof-ups in synchronization and such as the actor responded to his own questions. The interview itself was also quite interesting. It touched upon the actor's busy work schedule now, his recent crop of politics-tinged films, his longevity in an industry renowned for its short career spans, the immediate jump to hero status of current new entrants as compared to his gradual ascent in filmdom from extra to villain to antihero to hero and the image consciousness of some heroes. His responses were casual, down-to-earth, self-deprecating and delivered with the usual nakkal he exhibits in his movies. Overall, it was an interesting interview with actor who has been in the industry for over 20 years. But as he mentioned movies like Vedham Pudhidhu, Kadalora Kavidhaigal and Walter Vetrivel in the same breath as movies like Iyer I.P.S and Asathal, I couldn't help but be saddened at the steep downward slide of a very good actor's career...