Chennai, India – Rishikanth can’t find a second to catch his breath. He’s been everywhere lately, not just on theatrical and streaming screens with his two recent successes—Dorothy and Modha Rathiri—but also on a whirlwind press tour across cities and states for both titles, which included a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Karthik Subbaraj film, starring Rishikanth, Sananth, and Keerthy Suresh, has emerged as a flashpoint for Tamil cinema this year, drawing praise for its daring themes and garnering considerable support from the LGBTQIA+ community across India. Meanwhile, Modha Rathiri, directed by Raja Karuppasamy, has found an unexpected second life on streaming after a lukewarm theatrical reception.
In an exclusive conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Rishikanth reflected on the lessons he took away from Dorothy, how he prepared with co-star Sananth to execute certain scenes, and his long road to leading-man status. “I’m from Thanjavur, and my family and friends I grew up with are all still there. I came to Chennai about 15 years ago to try to make it in the film industry here, and eventually became part of the YouTube group Temple Monkeys,” he said. “But in 2026, Dorothy and Modha Rathiri released… and then absolutely changed my life.”
On the film’s portrayal of a trans woman, Rishikanth admitted, “The honest answer is that I wasn’t very aware or knowledgeable about the topic, and I’m still learning about it. I did the project only because of Karthik Subbaraj; I came into it solely as an actor willing to educate himself.” He added, “What I’ve learnt through this film is to understand trans women as women, and not as people who exist separately from everyone else. They are completely women.”
Addressing the backlash the film has faced, he said, “I don’t understand the hate. We say we respect trans people and their choices, but what happens beyond that? They also want love, and they also want relationships and family lives. We don’t often think about those aspects deeply enough.” Reflecting on the TIFF experience, he said, “I’m not at all an award-film or film-festival kind of guy! I’m a proper general audience person. Someone like Karthik Subbaraj anna coming into films gave me hope that a normal guy like me could also enter the industry.”
Speaking about the climactic kiss with Sananth, Rishikanth revealed, “Before the climax, Sananth and I had to figure out how we were going to approach the kiss. He’s one of my closest and oldest friends, so we did spend some time wondering how we would do it. We kept telling ourselves not to think about it until the moment arrived, and to just let it happen spontaneously. When we shot it, we gritted our teeth and got through it. That was it! Once the film came out, we realised the magnitude of what we had done. Two guys kissing on-screen in a Tamil film… we had taken it so lightly while shooting it.
Only afterwards did we realise how significant a scene like that could be.” On his journey, he said, “About two or three years ago, I started getting opportunities to play some lead roles. But I turned them down at that point, as I wanted to upgrade myself slowly, from small roles to character roles, then supporting roles and eventually a hero. These have been a couple of life-changing months for me.”
