For Veera, who was nominated for the Best Debut Actor Award by a private television entertainment channel in 2011 for his film, ‘Nadunisi Naaygal’, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, to become an actor was the sole ambition ever since childhood.

However, getting there was not a piece of cake for the Chennai-based actor. He had to face many a hardship to achieve his dream of playing the lead role in a film. Covai Post caught up with the actor at an event here on Friday.

“As a child, we all have many ambitions and the society cultivates certain ideas in us. Some want to become a doctor, some an engineer, even without proper understating of the profession. As time moves on, most of them forget their childhood ambition and tend to move on. However, I got lucky to become who I wanted to be in life,” he says.

However, roles did not come easily to him. He has fought a fair share of his own battles before landing the lead role in a film. “I had to wait for nine years before debuting as a protagonist. I was a supporting artist in a few films including ‘Vaaranam Aayiram’ and ‘Pachaikili Muthucharam’ while working as an assistant director. But my first film ‘Nadunisi Naaygal’ as a hero happened only after nine years,” he says.

Yet, when the chance finally arrived, Veera admits that he had strange feelings to be the centre of attraction in a shooting spot. “I have faced the camera on many occasions. But when I shot for the first scene as a hero, I had goose bumps in my stomach,” he reveals. Veera has also starred in the leading role in ‘Rajathanthiram’ directed by A.G.Amid.

While chasing his dream, Veera was forced to change course for some time and become a producer. Yet, he used the new profession only to keep the actor in him alive. “I have always tried to maintain a balance between the two professions. However, if a battle starts between the two, the actor in me will always emerge the victor no matter what,” he says.

Drawing inspiration from Kamal Haasan and the Walt Disney team, Veera says he has always been fascinated by the two for their work in the art industry.

Complimenting the people of Coimbatore, Veera says that the Kongu dialect of Coimbatore is “so sweet” and that Coimbatore will always be one of his favourite spots for movie shootings.

Apart from being an actor and a producer, Veera describes himself as “a regular guy who just got lucky”. When asked to give a piece of advice to young and growing actors, Veera says with a smile, “Please do not smoke, it is injurious to health and is very dangerous”.