Not Mani Ratnam or Sundar C, but this 2-film-old director gave Bagavathi Perumal career-altering role

Hindustan Times

8 hours ago

Actor Bagavathi Perumal, who is mostly seen in Tamil films, recently played a pivotal role in the Hindi series The Hunt—The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case. The series, like the title suggests, talks about the aftermath of assassination of India's former Prime Minister by a Sri Lankan rebel group. It is available for streaming on SonyLIV and OTTplay Premium. Bagavathi Perumal
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Bagavathi Perumal, who plays investigation officer Ragothaman in the series, is known for playing a range of characters; from being an atrocious and abusive cop in Super Deluxe, to an unaware police officer in Tourist Family. The actor in an exclusive conversation with OTTplay spoke about his acting range, and that one director who tapped the potential in him.
Bagavathi Perumal on playing character roles
Bagavathi Perumal played supporting roles in films like 96, Blue Star, Super Deluxe and Tourist Family to name a few. His range varies from playing a villain, to a friend and characters with grey shades. Speaking about this, he said that every actor aims to be not boxed. 'The one who broke my pattern and pulled me out is Thiagaraja Kumaraja (director of Super Deluxe) sir. He was the one who wanted me to do the role, and it is because of him others began to see the potential in me,' he added.
Also read: The Hunt - The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case actor Bagavathy Perumal: How well a supporting role is written is criteria to judge good writing
The actor also gave an example of Singampuli who played a role not expected out of him in Tamil film Maharaja. 'He was shown in a completely different shade. Only a director par excellence can show an actor in a different form. We, as actors, get usually trapped or typecast in certain roles. It is because directors fail to see actors in a different light. There are only few filmmakers who can see beyond the stereotypes,' Bagavathy Perumal mentioned.
The Hunt - The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, also stars Amil Sial, Sahil Vaid, Girish Sharma and others. The seven-episode series opened to positive reviews upon its release and was praised for its gripping narrative.
Bagavathi Perumal was recently seen in Mani Ratnam's film Thug Life and Sundar C's Gangers.