Sarpatta Parambarai Showed Me The Reach of Streaming: Arya

Arya recently made his streaming series debut with Milind Rau's The Village, on Amazon Prime Video, which was also one of the first onscreen adaptations of a graphic novel in Tamil. The show focuses on the fantastical adventures a doctor and his family, as they come across a village haunted by a bloodthirsty species of mutants.

Arya feels that his script selection has always been instinctual. The actor’s role in bringing unique concepts and more westernized sensibilities into Tamil mainstream films is a facet of his filmography that’s often overlooked. "I do feel excited when I listen to a new script that has a unique central idea. You always aspire to do something different. Sometimes, you might want to play a different character, or be part of a new world," he told us in an intervew.

The actor is also vocal about his dislike for violence and gore as a viewer. “When Milind narrated the story idea of The Village to me, I thought it was something that hasn't been tried in Indian streaming platforms before, especially today, when people are enjoying gore and violence on the screen. I am not someone who personally enjoys that aspect of films, as a viewer. I often wonder to myself why audiences find this so engaging in films these days, you know? It disturbs me sometimes. I think to myself, "are things so bad these days in our lives?" Or is it that people are negative and feel angry all the time? I seriously have no clue.”

He admits that he hasn't watched any horror film till date. “I try my best not to watch extreme violence on screen. To be honest, I have not seen any horror films till now, my film (Aranmanai 3) included. I am not a horror guy. So when Milind narrated the story to me, I was impressed as it was something that I had not tried. He showed me his storyboards and sketches and I told him that if we were able to capture the mood of his vision in our show, we could definitely excite the audience with this story. Since everyone in the team was so excited, I was like "let me do this.”"

With The Village marking his streaming debut, the actor also speaks about his process in different mediums. “It's the same process for me. As an actor, I am supposed to act the same way and provide the same expression irrespective of medium. But back when we started making it (series), people weren't willing to get into the streaming space. They really believed that it was something below our pay grade for serious film actors, to be part of “serials” as they called it back then. But I knew OTT had a wider audience as my film Sarpatta Parambarai (2021) had already been released on Amazon Prime. So, I was aware of the reach of a streaming original.”

The Village also co-stars Divya Pillai, Aadukalam Naren, George Maryan, Baby Aazhiya, Arjun Chidambaram, John Kokken and Pooja Ramachandran.