Domestic Interview with Sathish Shanmugam!
Logistics of Interview - Robert Stephens,
Sathish Shanmugam, and Tina Nandi in Bengaluru, India (3.30 pm IST)
Medium of Domestic Communication: English
Language Conversation
RS: Greetings Sathish!
SS: Hi Robert!
RS:
I would like to begin by......(early
interruption by Sathish)
SS:
I want this to go on record: I AM
A 12th STANDARD GRADUATE ONLY!
RS:
(after recovering from slight
shock) Oh my, OK. So you do not have
the college degree?
SS: NOPE!
And on my wedding invitation one day, it is going to say "12th
Standard Graduate ONLY"
RS:
Then that means Wilbur Sargunaraj's song "Simple Superstar" is
basically your personal theme song?
SS:
Absolutely. That is ME, and I am
PROUD of it.
RS: Very interesting. So enlighten us sir...how did you end up in
the movie cast?
SS:
It is quite simple actually. Zaid
Khan, a friend of mine, shared about the movie, and explained that there was
one role left. It sounded interesting,
so I decided to give it a shot and audition.
RS: And
clearly it worked out.... which character do you play?
SS:
I'm a successful businessman...you can see me in the trailer at minute 1.05.
RS: What!?!? That is YOU?!?! No way! You
look so different in real life!!!1
SS: Yes, that is me! When I first told my Mom about the role, she
laughed at me, because it is very much opposite my natural character and
personality!
RS:
Hahahaha!
SS: BUT,
I had the chance to play many other roles in the movie, all of which were
unscripted....
RS: Such as.....?
SS:
To begin with, I was the Eastern Latrine Door Technician, a role which I
obtained on the basis of pure skill, as nobody else could do what I did.
RS: Excuse me?
SS:
This is a top secret role, and everyone will just have to wait and see the
movie to understand how the Eastern Latrine Door makes a cameo.
RS:
Ok then....(nervous look toward
Tina Nandi)....other roles?
SS:
Then I was the Children's Dance Choreographer for "Annie Rose."
RS:
You mean, the first official Simple Superstar teaser, the Annie Rose
music video?
SS:
The one and only, yes sir. Then,
I was Ben's Assistant Cameraman, the Sound Assistant, and Assistant Set
Coordinator in Chennai.
RS:
Wow. Those are a lot of roles,
six to be precise. Was your involvement
originally planned to be so extensive?
SS:
No way! Actually, my
"role" as a successful businessman was originally slated to be a two
day shoot.
RS: How and why did things change?
SS: As
everyone started working together, something very special happened. We became like a close knit family. Ordinary events like having dinner became
highlights of the day.
RS: Can you explain that a bit more?
SS:
I'll explain it this way.....When I am invited over to someone's house,
I'm the type of guy that will sit quietly, not talk much, etc. But when I was at Wilbur's House, with his
parents and family, everything was totally different. In fact, I have NEVER had so many people
being sincerely and simultaneously nice to me in my life!
RS: Hahaha! That is GREAT!
SS:
And I want this to go on record "WILBUR'S MOM MAKES THE BEST PEANUT
BUTTER IN THE WORLD!"
RS: Peanut Butter!?!?
SS:
Yes! I would have a Peanut Butter
and Jelly (PBJ) sandwich for dinner, for lunch, and sometimes, even for
breakfast. I was totally High on food! In fact, by the end of our time together,
Wilbur's Mom used to call me "Peanut Butter Kutti."
RS:
Ummm....Peanut Butter Kutti? What does "kutti" mean?
SS:
Something along the lines of "Dear"
RS:
Hahaha! Lovely. Any stories from
the shoot you would like to share?
SS:
I must say, Ben Stamper is Crazy.
In a great way.
RS:
Yes, that is a well documented fact.
But for the records sake, can you explain a bit?
SS:
One day, we were shooting in a coconut tree grove. After preparing for the shoot, all was ready
to go, but we could not find Ben....
RS: Then....?
SS:
Out of nowhere we hear "Are you ready?" I look around, down, to the side, but still
no success. Then, I look up, and he is
hanging from the top of a coconut tree, ready to shoot. How he got up there I have no idea!
RS: Yep!
That sounds like a Ben story!
SS: Gosh,
we had so much fun shooting this film.
When our month together came to a close, we were rather sad. We knew that this experience would never happen
again, and that made it all the more special.
RS: Well,
Mr. Sathish Shanmugam, our Peanut Butter Kutti / Eastern Latrine Door
Technician / Sound Assistant / Assistant Cameraman / ‘Annie Rose’ Choreographer
/ Assistant Set Coordinator, we thank you for your time. More importantly, we thank you for the
expanse of your heart. Thank you for
turning a two day role into a month long commitment. Thank you for being a living example of the
fact that true success in life, the kind that is focused on encouraging and being
in community with others, has nothing to do with a college degree. We thank you. We salute you.
SS: (Salutes
and smiles wide)
Location: Commercial Street, Bangalore
Interviewer: Robert Stephens
Model/Interviewee: Sathish Shanmugam
Photographer: Tina Nandi
Note from the Photographer: While we were out on the busy streets of Commercial Street taking the photographs for this interview, two curious gentlemen came and asked us what we were doing. They turned out also to be Wilbur fans. A perfect example of how wide the Wilbur World Wide Community is and the power it has to bring strangers together!
Please do check out all the other interviews of the wide variety of contributors to Wilbur's upcoming film.
Interview with Ms. Jen Neecia
Interview with Naveen Richard
Interview with DJ Sodhivine
Interview with DJ Deli
Interview with Colonel Prasad and Vaishnavi Madam
Interview with Mr. Ken
And plenty more musings on Robert Stephen's Blog.
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