Vishal Recalls Near-Death Experience On Mark Antony Set: 'I Told Crew To Leave Me Alone' | Exclusive

Tamil film star Vishal has recalled almost dying while filming for his upcoming movie Mark Antony. The actor has been on a promotional spree with just over a month to go until the release of the highly anticipated sci-fi actioner, which also stars SJ Suryah.

In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Vishal discussed shooting for a sequence in which he had a miraculous escape from a near-death situation on the sets of Mark Antony.

“I’m reborn. A truck almost ran over me on the sets of Mark Antony. There was a sequence where SJ Suryah hit me… There was a huge truck which lost control and advanced towards me. There was no ground clearance. The truck was supposed to hit a wall but it collapsed… I was leaning on the ground so I could hear it. Luckily, it deviated towards the right and went and hit the set. After the incident, I told the crew to leave me alone for like 10 minutes. I was in a trance," the actor, who was last seen in Laththi, told us.

Talking about collaborating with SJ Suryah in the movie, Vishal said, “He’s an inspiration. We bonded so well during the shoot of this film. He was like an elder brother. I kept telling him that people usually look at the hero, but I’m looking at you. For me as an actor, Suryah was another pillar in the film who was supporting the film. So he’s one person who I’ve been noticing for the last 25 years from Loyola College, where I studied. I used to stay that there’s fire in his eyes. He never changes his track at all till he reaches his goal. So in this film he’s acted as the villain, and he’s shown the comical element of the villainism also."

Furthermore, Vishal revealed that director Adhik Ravichandran had been chasing him for Mark Antony for over six years and he was “shell shocked" when he heard the script for the first time.

“I don’t think even a girl will be behind a guy, for like so many years. This guy has been behind me for the last 6 years. He came to Hyderabad when I was shooting for a film, but he couldn’t narrate the script there. Then at one point, I called him post midnight. He came over and I told him to narrate the script. I didn’t know what genre it was. When he narrated the first half, I was shell shocked. I couldn’t sleep that day because I was so excited. A nice script excites you, for like forever, a bad script pulls you down the whole day. The script had a dual role, a period film where a father from the ’70s is a gangster and has a different body language, while son is from the ’90s and a mechanic. The set up was so amazing. Suryah also had a double role. So, it was interesting."

Vishal continued, “Another thing was that the screenplay was so easy to understand, because sci-fi thrillers usually cater to an A class audience. But this was universally appealing. So everything all put together, maybe 10 years down the line, I would show off telling in my resume that Mark Antony is one of the best films in my career."

Mark Antony is slated to hit the theatres on September 15.