Least interested in star status: Pasupathi

While talking to the media in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday during a promotional function of his latest Malayalam film Vairam, which is running to packed houses across Kerala, popular actor Pasupathi said that he prefers to be known as an actor, not as a star.

"I am least interested in star status or star value. My only objective is to be a good actor and that my films should run on�merits, not on star value," Pasupathi was quoted as saying. Vairam is Pasupathi's second film in Malayalam; his first�was Mammootty starrer Big B.

Comparing Tamil and Malayalam, Pasupathi said that Malayalam certainly has a better quality when it comes to the scripts. "But the remuneration is better in Tamil because it has a wider audience and the budgets of Tamil films are bigger," he added.

Meanwhile, director M.A. Nishad, who was also present during the occasion, claimed that his Vairam is partially based on a real-life incident which�occurred in Kerala. It revolves around Sivarajan (Pasupathi), a Tamil bank manager working in Thodupuzha, his Malayalee wife Devi (Meera Vasudev) and their only daughter Vairamani (Dhanya Mary), living in a rented house belonging to the highly affluent Thalikkulam Avarachan (Thilakan).

Misfortune strikes the family in the form of Vairamani's unexpected death. The girl goes missing on the day of her school exam and is later found dead in an abandoned well with bruises on her body. Sivarajan later returns to his native place in Pollachi, but soon learns that his darling daughter was brutally raped and killed by Thalikkulam Avarachan's son Josootty (Jayasuriya).