Harish Uthaman is being lauded for his recent work in Express Raja . Though this tall man with sharp features had made many appearances earlier, it was only in 2015 that most of the films he worked in became hits. Despite the debacle of Gauravam, he got to work in Power, Aagadu, Jil, Pandaga Chesko and Srimanthudu . He hadn’t planned on a career for movies though. “I was born in Coimbatore, even during college I was not inclined towards acting and became a cabin crew instead with Paramount and British Airways. I always liked Raghuvaran and saw his films but never thought I would get into acting. I began my film career in 2010. My first movie director Surya Prabhakar came to meet my brother for some reason when he saw me and asked if I would be interested in acting. I was in a secure job and so I wondered should I or not. I took a month to take a decision and my family stood by me. I did a lead in his movie ( Thaa ); it was an art kind of movie," he recollects.
Harish denies that he is being offered only roles of an antagonist, he is now doing a movie with Nayantara in which he will be seen playing a positive character, it is being produced by Sarkunam and directed by Das Ramaswamy. He avers, “I am super happy with whatever I am getting. I am getting lead roles also and don't want to make a mistake choosing a wrong script. I don't like the term hero, I believe in the script, character.”
Ask him if the villains in the south industry are too tall for the heroes and he quips, “I just completed a film Rail with Danush as hero directed by Prabhu Solomon the hero is shorter than me but I don't think height matters for people who perform.”
Citing the preference of audiences in the South, he says Tamil scripts are done brilliantly. Telugu stories are mostly commercial and have masala but in Tamil Nadu not all commercial movies work, a movie with content does well. For example look at Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Konam , it worked wonder for the team, but when it was remade in Telugu, it didn't do well. Pizza also which became a trend setter, though the hero wasn’t popular , he was just growing.”
He adds, “ Srimanthudu came to me in the last minute and the opening I got for it worked in all languages. It was one of the biggest hits in my career. I followed it up with Express Raja . My next film will be Nani- starrer titled Krishnagadi Veera Prema Gadha . I play the antagonist but it’s a very subtle character. I know it will work 200 percent like Srimantudu . Director Hanu Raghavpudi has done a super job, he is hyper till he gets his work done.”
On other languages, he says, “I worked in a Malayalam film Mumbai Police long back with Prithviraj but after that I didn't any interesting offers. Thani Oruvan was a plus for me in Tamil. I recently got hurt during the Danush movie and took a break. I will begin again in April.”
Harish says he misses flying when he sees his juniors on the flight sometimes but he is definitely enjoying the place he is in right now. Speaking of other interests, Harish reveals, “I love sports, have been playing Basketball for 17 years, I still play over the weekend in Chennai. I am into Parkour since a year, it gives me a thorough adrenalin rush. I need to do some kind of ground exercise otherwise my day is not completed."
