Assault Sethu
Assault Sethu is the main antagonist of the 2014 Indian Tamil-language film Jigarthanda, created by its director/writer Karthik Subbaraj and portrayed primarily by Bobby Simha. The character is a gangster based in Madurai, Tamil Nadu who later becomes an actor after meeting Karthik Subramani, an aspiring film director. It became Simha's breakthrough role, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Development
While creating the character of Sethu for the film Jigarthanda, director/writer Karthik Subbaraj was inspired by Rajinikanth's villainous roles in his early career, especially that in 16 Vayathinile. Karthik joked that Sethu was similar to himself as, during the time he spent researching about crime in Madurai, where the character is based, he became close to a gangster himself. Sethu was named after Vijay Sethupathi, who Karthik initially wanted to cast. The "Assault" prefix comes from Madurai slang which means "to do things with ease". Numerous actors were approached for the role, including Raghava Lawrence, R. Parthiban, R. Madhavan, Pasupathy and Kishore, before Bobby Simha was finalised. Sethupathi went on to portray a younger version of the character. To prepare for his role, Simha interacted with actual gangsters who were in prison. Sethu also appears as an infant in the prequel Jigarthanda DoubleX.Character biography
Karthik Subramani, an aspiring film director, visits Sundar, a film producer who suggests making a gangster film. Karthik decides to document the life of "Assault" Sethu, a gangster based in Madurai and make a screenplay out of it. Karthik travels to Madurai and enlists the help of a college friend Oorani to conduct surveillance on Sethu and his men. To get closer to Sethu, Karthik also puts up an act of reciprocating the love of Kayalvizhi, whose mother cooks for Sethu. They eventually arouse the suspicion of Sethu's right-hand man Rasu, who puts underling Soundar to watch them. Karthik plants a wireless microphone in a music player and lends it to Soundar, who is busted as a mole for an opposing gang and killed by Sethu. He finds the microphone and locates Karthik and Oorani. Karthik confesses that he was planning to make a film about Sethu. Enamoured by the prospect of being the subject of a film, Sethu initiates Karthik and Oorani into his gang. Sethu and his gang take Karthik along for their criminal activities, and Karthik documents everything. When he is ready to leave Madurai to work on the screenplay, Kayal discovers that Karthik used her for information. During a send-off party for Karthik, a vengeful Kayal remarks that Sethu should play himself in the film. He listens and threatens Karthik to direct the film with Sethu playing himself on screen. Karthik tries to flee from Madurai but is caught by Sethu's gang. They also kidnap Sundar and force both men to make the film. Karthik soon learns that Sethu and his men cannot act in front of a camera. He hires acting coach Muthu, to no avail.After production of the film, A. Kumar, is wrapped, Sethu and his men create great fanfare for its release. During the first showing, however, Sethu is shocked. Realising that a serious gangster film featuring Sethu would not succeed, Karthik had surreptitiously changed the story into a comedy. The film was edited and dubbed in a way that shows Sethu as a man who achieves everything in life by crying. The film's "A" initial is revealed to stand for Azhuguni, not Assault. The audience laughs all throughout the film at Sethu's expense. Enraged, Sethu searches for Karthik, who, with the rest of the crew, has gone into hiding. While searching for them, Sethu realises that the fear that people have for him does not equal respect. He finds that by making people laugh through his film, he has earned true respect. For example, his mother, who has never spoken to him since he became a gangster, speaks to Sethu again after seeing the film. Sethu and Karthik eventually meet by accident, as the latter is en route to deliver recordings of the former's boastful confessions to the police. Sethu pours petrol over Karthik, intending to burn him, but changes his mind and forgives Karthik, who chooses to put Sethu's past behind him and let him seek a new life. Years later, Karthik, now an experienced director, has started to use Sethu's gang to bully Vijay Sethupathi for acting in his new film titled Jigarthanda, as Kayal, now Karthik's wife, is a fan of him. Elsewhere, Sethu is a full-time actor, has married Soundar's wife Ganga, and dotes on her daughter.