Chennai, Feb 6 (IANS): Director Jeeva Shankar says Vijay Antony, with whom he has collaborated for the second time in upcoming Tamil political thriller "Yaman", has grown confident as an actor since their 2012 first Tamil outing "Naan".

"On the sets of 'Naan', he had too many things going on his mind. He'd freeze at times and I had to push him to act. There's tremendous level of confidence in his performance now. He has grown confident as an actor and that's a good sign," Jeeva told IANS.

Although they had planned to work together after "Naan", Jeeva hadn't exclusively written "Yaman" for Vijay Antony.

"When I wrote the script, I had a few options. Post 'Amara Kaaviyam', Arya and Vijay Sethupathi were keen to collaborate but I didn't want to make a film just because a leading hero was interested. I believe in my script more than a hero," he said.

It was only as his last resort that he had Vijay Antony in mind.

"Vijay wanted to do another film and before I started writing 'Yaman', he told me to consider him only as his last option. Somehow, I felt he would be apt for this story," he added.

Talking about the film, which also stars Mia George in the lead, Jeeva said it will give audiences a glimpse of politics from a leader's standpoint.

"People have wrong notion about politics, without quite understanding what really happens, or they fail to analyze something from a politician's standpoint. This story is about the rise of a politician and it throws the spotlight on the other side of the fence," he said.

Produced by Lyca Productions, the film is gearing up for release on February 24.