The Family Man Actor Uday Mahesh On His Character: Would Love To star In Chellam Spin-Off
Uday Mahesh, who played the "super conscious" former intelligence officer on the Amazon Prime Video series, says he is up for a spin-off on the beloved character and even a reprisal in the upcoming season three.
Chellam
sir,
a
retired
spy
who
comes
to
the
rescue
of
Manoj
Bajpayee's
Srikant
Tiwari
in
the
latest
season
of
espionage
action-thriller
The
Family
Man,
is
now
a
national
rage
and
the
subject
of
viral
memes.
Actor
Uday
Mahesh,
who
played
the
"super
conscious" former
intelligence
officer
on
the
Amazon
Prime
Video
series,
says
he
is
up
for
a
spin-off
on
the
beloved
character
and
even
a
reprisal
in
the
upcoming
season
three.
Chellum's
popularity
is
similar
to
that
of
Bob
Biswas,
an
insurance
agent
by
the
day,
Biswas
moonlights
as
a
hitman
in
the
Vidya
Balan-starrer
2012
Kahaani.
The
character
is
now
getting
a
spin-off
film
with
Abhishek
Bachchan.
Asked
if
he
was
game
for
a
Chellam
stand-alone
series
given
the
popularity
of
the
character,
Mahesh
told
PTI
over
telephone
from
Chennai,
"If
I
get
an
offer
like
that,
I
would
definitely
love
to
do
it.
Even
for
Family
Man
3,
if
they'll
call
me,
I'll
be
up
for
it."
The
51-year-old,
who
is
primarily
a
writer
and
director
in
Tamil
cinema,
said
he
had
first
auditioned
for
the
role
of
Dheepan,
a
senior
Sri
Lankan
Tamil
fighter
who
uses
diplomacy
to
achieve
the
cause
of
liberation.
The
role
was
eventually
played
by
Azhagam
Perumal.
Two
months
after
no
word
from
the
team,
Mahesh
received
a
callback
and
they
offered
him
the
role
of
Chellam.
Since
The
Family
Man
was
a
hit
show,
the
actor
said,
he
wanted
to
be
a
part
of
it.
"So
I
said
yes
to
the
role," the
actor
said
about
his
extended
cameo.
The
creators
of
the
show
Raj
Nidimoru
and
Krishna
DK
briefed
him
about
the
character,
who
is
now
a
viral
sensation
on
social
media
via
memes,
when
they
met
on
the
set.
"They
said
this
is
a
retired
spy
who
helps
Srikant
and
they
have
worked
together
some
time
in
the
past.
He
is
a
super
conscious
spy.
It
was
an
interesting
part."
From
tossing
sim
cards
into
shopping
bags,
abruptly
hanging
up
a
call
to
chiding
Srikant
over
wasting
water,
Chellam
is
now
part
of
the
pop
culture
in
the
digital
age.
In
the
series,
the
character
seems
to
give
a
breakthrough
to
Srikant
every
time
he
hits
a
roadblock
in
his
mission,
with
a
meme
equating
Chellam
with
Google,
the
search
engine
on
the
Internet.
"I
liked
the
role
because
there
was
a
comical
touch
to
it.
We
never
thought
this
was
going
to
be
so
huge,"
Mahesh
added.
Born
and
brought
up
in
Chennai,
the
actor
holds
a
diploma
in
chemical
engineering
from
Central
Polytechnic
College.
But
he
was
not
interested
in
studying
and
wanted
to
join
the
Merchant
Navy.
"I
could
not
join
the
Merchant
Navy
due
to
family
pressure.
When
I
was
studying
in
college,
I
had
a
passion
for
cinema.
But
I
didn't
know
how
to
get
into
it."
Around
the
same
time
Mahesh
met
cinematographer
Natarajan
Subramaniam,
known
as
Nutty,
through
a
common
friend.
"Through
Nutty,
I
got
an
entry
into
the
industry
as
an
assistant
director.
Slowly,
I
worked
towards
becoming
a
writer
and
director," he
said.
He
made
his
directorial
debut
in
2006
with
Naalai,
starring
Richard
Rishi
and
Madhumitha,
and
introduced
Natraj
as
an
actor.
Two
years
later,
they
reunited
for
"Chakkara
Viyugam".
Mahesh
also
co-wrote
the
story
of
Shoojit
Sircar's
directorial
debut
Yahaan
(2005)
while
he
was
working
with
the
filmmaker
for
his
production
house
in
Mumbai.
Acting
was
an
accident,
Mahesh
said
who
has
since
worked
in
films
like
Kabali
and
Madras
Cafe
and
STAR
Vijay
series
Office.
Director
Naveen
wanted
him
to
play
the
role
of
Salim
bhai,
a
funny
don,
in
the
2013
Tamil
black
comedy
Moodar
Koodam.
"I
was
reluctant
to
act.
Naveen
forced
me
and
eventually
I
said
yes.
I
wanted
to
be
known
as
a
writer-director,
not
an
actor.
There
are
so
many
great
actors
in
the
industry,
comparatively
I'm
nothing,"
Mahesh
said.
When
Madras
Cafe,
also
directed
by
Sircar
in
which
Mahesh
played
an
intelligence
officer,
happened,
he
was
helping
the
director
in
casting
the
film
on
location
in
Kochi.
"Shoojit
offered
me
a
small
character
in
Madras
Cafe
and
I
couldn't
refuse
because
I
was
getting
to
share
screen
space
with
John
Abraham."
Working
with
Bajpayee
on
the
series
was
a
"delight
and
honour",
Mahesh
said.
After
the
success
of
The
Family
Man,
the
actor
said
if
a
good
character
comes
his
way,
he
will
"definitely"
take
it
up.
"But
I'm
keen
on
writing
and
directing,"
he
added.
Next,
Mahesh
is
looking
forward
to
directing
a
movie
in
Tamil.