'Thangalaan' villain Daniel Caltagirone hails Pa. Ranjith; says he was nervous about how Indian stars would treat him

British actor Daniel Caltagirone, who is set to make his Kollywood debut with the movie Thangalaan, directed by Pa Ranjith and starring Vikram in the lead, revealed that his role in the movie is not merely a "token" presence.

Caltagirone plays the antagonist in the movie in Thangalaan, which is an action drama set in the 19th century in the Kolar gold mines.

London-born Caltagirone is popular for his roles in movies like The Pianist, Legionnaire, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life.

The actor had long conversation with Pa. Ranjith about his character before he agreed to take up the role.

"When I first got hired by Ranjith, we had a long conversation. I didn't audition for him, he just called my agent saying 'This guy is interesting, I want to work with him'," the actor said during the promotion of Thangalaan.

He said the director assured him that his role would not be that of a cliched British character that comes in.

The director wanted him to be "one of the first British actors to do something different" in Indian cinema.

"If that works, that would be amazing for me as one of the first (British actors) in the lead in a film that's just not going to be a token," Caltagirone said.

"In the film, you'll see flashes of the character trying to fight because he's had this rough existence. Life has dealt these bad hands to him. What you see is the product of that but what you also see is the man being turned bad. Then, you've got the same with Vikram's character but obviously I'm not going to spoil the ending. Our characters become possessed by the desire, need and greed to obtain gold. I hope I've done my job well."

Caltagirone said he got lucky with his co-stars.

"I was nervous about how the big Indian stars would treat me. Everyone sort of got down really well... I have this huge amount of respect for Indian actors because they do things above and beyond a lot of time than their western counterparts, who have their stunt guys step in straightaway or they can't get their hair messed up and stuff. I was told I was going to be doing a lot during stunts and I was like 'Yeah, let's do it!'"