Stardom stifled me: Arvind Swamy

Mumbai, April 24 (IANS) Actor Arvind Swamy, popular for films like "Roja" and "Bombay", says he was a private person and so, stardom stifled him.

Arvind, who made his Bollywood debut with Mani Ratnam’s 1992 film “Roja”, is returning to the Hindi film world with debutant director Tanuj Bhramar's upcoming film “Dear Dad” -- a coming of age story, involving 14-year-old Shivam and his 45-year-old father Nitin Swaminathan.

Arvind told IANS: “I had started when I was 20 years old. I didn’t know how stardom would be like. Stardom and adulation that came in... kind of stifled me. I was a private person so, this stardom kind of stifled me and I wanted to get out of that for some time. I wanted to step out of that and do all the things that I wanted to do.”

Arvind, who has ruled the Southern film industry for a long time, says he didn’t want to be a star.

He said: “I just wanted to be an actor so, I moved away only because of that. Now, I can look back and analyse it. And today I feel I can deal with it much better. Those days, I was too young I could not deal with it properly.”

He also feels fans should not get carried away by the stars.

He said: “I just want people to come and see my film and appreciate our hard work. People should get entertained by films. I don’t think they should get carried away by the stars. Films are meant for entertainment...it might help you get an idea or think about a subject and that’s it.”

Arvind, father of two children, says parenting is the most difficult job.

“I have been parenting them since the last 10 years. The most difficult job is parenting because there is no perfect way to follow it. You have to deal with different situations and challenges,” the 45-year-old said.

Talking about "Dear Dad", he said: “We are not trying to make this film very emotional. It’s a very simple film about complex situations. The father and son go on a trip which is a journey of confession, conflict... where he is seeking his son's understanding about some problem that has cropped up in his family.”