Vijay Sethupathi says Hindi audience only respect him when they know he is working with SRK, Katrina, Shahid

Tamil star Vijay Sethupathi believes the only way for him to be taken seriously as an artist working in a Hindi project is by introducing himself as a co-star of Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Shahid Kapoor.

Twelve years after making his acting debut in Tamil cinema and establishing himself as one of its leading stars, Sethupathi is working on three Hindi projects series Farzi with Kapoor, feature film Jawan alongside Khan and Merry Christmas opposite Kaif.

When I get a Hindi project, I have to tell (people) that I'm working with Shahid or that I'm the villain for Shah Rukh sir, working with Katrina, then only I'm taken seriously, Sethupathi said at the trailer launch of his maiden web show Farzi here.

I don’t see it as a debut. I did my first film in 2010, it’s been twelve years since I debuted as a hero. I’ve done about fifty-five films. (Every time I do a film) I am like a kid. For me short form or long form, every scene is a film. We’re putting the same kind of effort in each and every shot to make the audience interested, he said.

I like the gentleman that is Manoj Bajpayee. He wanted to meet me I met him and he was the same person I saw in ‘Satya’. Then I met Raj & DK, they were there too. I didn’t know there would be something work related for me that too in Hindi. They were there, Shahid was there too and ‘Farzi’ was offered to me, he said.

I learnt Hindi when I was in Dubai for three years, where I did an accountant’s job, but it was so many years I had not practised, so I was worried about my language. But Raj & DK made him comfortable and gave him artistic freedom, he said.