Vijay Sethupathi responds to being called pan-India star: ‘No need to put a label, I am not comfortable with that’

Actor Vijay Sethupathi responded to a journalist, who addressed him as a ‘pan-India star’. In a new interview, Vijay said that he isn’t comfortable with the term. The actor also said that he wants to do films in every language including Bengali and Gujarati. Vijay’s Farzi co-star Raashi Khanna, in the same interview, also said that she doesn’t like to be called a ‘pan-India actor’.

Vijay and Raashi will be seen next in the upcoming action thriller web series Farzi. Helmed by Raj and DK, the crime thriller marks the digital debut of Shahid Kapoor and Vijay. It is all set to stream on Prime Video from February 10. The series also stars Kay Kay Menon, Amol Palekar, Regina Cassandra, and Bhuvan Arora in pivotal roles.

In an interview with Galatta Plus, Vijay said, “No sir, I am an actor. I am not comfortable with that pan-India statement. Sometimes that gives pressure also. I am just an actor and no need to put a label under this. So, that’s enough. I want to do every language film. I want to do a Bengali film, a Gujarati film. So if I get the chance, I’ll go and work there.”

Raashi Khanna also reacted when she was asked if she likes the term. She said, “Not at all. I don’t like it. We are all actors first and why divide? I don’t think it comes from us as actors wanting to be called pan India. It’s probably just the people who are sort of putting it out there…None of us like the term. I think it’s more divisional, like why are you diving us? We have already been divided into Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood. Now suddenly it’s the north and the south. On top of that, there’s another category pan India. Why are we categorizing things?”

Last year, actor Dulquer Salman had said that he too doesn’t like the term ‘pan India’. Speaking with news agency PTI, Dulquer had said, “The word pan-India really irks me. I just don’t like hearing it. I love that there is so much exchange of talent happening in cinema, it’s great, but we are one country. I don’t think anyone says pan-America. I don’t get it, even though they say it sweetly.”

“You can’t engineer a pan-India film. Those films that have actually travelled across India are the ones that were rooted and made for one market. If you try to do a ‘pan-India’ film, try to appeal to all audiences for different markets, it will not belong anywhere,” he had added.