Arun Vijay on Why Tamilrockerz Was A Story That Had To Be Told

Tamil actor Arun Vijay recently made his streaming debut with Tamilrockerz. The SonyLIV original is based on the real-life film piracy website Tamilrockers, which has rocked the fate of several Tamil film releases over the years. The impact that the infamous group has had on the film industry has been huge, Vijay notes in an interview with Vishal Menon, adding that it was a story that urged him to take the plunge to give OTT a try. 

"Everyone should realise the amount of hard work, efforts and emotions involved in making a film. So, when a film is pirated,  it's just like a theft. So, audiences shouldn't watch it (pirated films). I'm hundred percent sure that audiences will realise our hard work and respect the art of films after watching the show," the actor says, pointing out that the aim of the show was to make audiences realise the repercussions of piracy on the film industry. 

It was also a story that needed to be told, the actor says. "When you watch the series, you'll know the seriousness of it. So many producers and directors have been affected. Some have been wiped out and secondly, they've also lost their minds. This tends to affect their family situations too. These are some of the things we wanted to bring to the limelight and that's the reason I came on board," Vijay says, adding that director Arivazhagan and producer Aruna Guhan make sure to tell this story in a gripping way. 

The script also couldn't be told in the traditional two-and-a-half hour film format, according to the actor. "I think such complicated scripts can only be told in this format — a format where we have no restrictions, and we have all the freedom. The censor is not that rigorous here as well." But the series was shot like a movie, he says, adding that the series didn't feel very different from any other film he has done. "The production value was amazing. We also had a lot of time to travel with our characters. I play Rudra, a police officer in the show, and I have an emotional connection with my him. The mindset of Rudra would be the mindset of the audience as well," he says.