Chennai, Oct 30 (IANS): Known for his action films such as "Sandakozhi" and "Thimiru", actor Vishal Krishna Reddy didn't hesitate to shed his image for Tamil drama "Pandiya Nadu", said the film's director Suseenthiran.

"Pandiya Nadu" is slated to release Saturday.

"Vishal is known as an action hero in the industry. To convince him to star in a rural drama wasn't easy, but he was really impressed with the script and he instantly agreed to do it. He even shed his action image to do justice to the role," Suseenthiran told IANS.

"There are some action sequences, but they have been shot in such a way that audience will only get to see the character Vishal plays in the film. It was challenging to make Vishal do what he has done in the film," he added.

Vishal also turns producer with "Pandiya Nadu", which also features Lakshmi Menon, Vikranth, Bharathiraja and Soori.

How was it working with Vishal as a producer?

"He had told me that he decided to become producer overnight. When one of his films needed some financial shove, he donned the hat of a producer. He is someone who appreciates a good script, gives lot of freedom to the director to experiment. I had fun shooting with him," said Suseenthiran.