I am open to playing a small part in a good cinema: Kalidas Jayaram

The prolonged wait is over and Poomaram has arrived. For Kalidas Jayaram, this is more of a homecoming. The relief and happiness are tangible, as the actor shares his excitement about the positive reviews pouring in. "I may have already made a debut in Tamil. But, this gives me more joy. It is like finally coming back home," says the actor. He tells Express how the one line of Poomaram was enough to convince him and how excited he is about staring in Alphonse Puthren's next.

Poomaram is finally out and, it sure is an unconventional debut. Tell us why you chose it for your Malayalam debut.
In fact, I didn't choose Poomaram, it was the other way around. Poomaram director Abrid Shine chose me. We knew him for a long time and when he wanted me to do this movie, I was really thrilled. Shine sir had told me that the story revolves around a five-day long youth festival and I got the spark. Yes, I agree that this may not be a conventional debut. But, then my only criterion was that it had to be good cinema. I am open to playing a small part in good cinema, than have the whole thing revolve just around me. I never harbour the notion that people come to the theatres just to see me. There are a lot of reasons they chose to watch Poomaram and I am just one of them.  Also, after my stint in Tamil industry, I wanted to be careful about what I pick. I think Poomaram is
something I was waiting for.

It wasn't an easy subject for you to relate to,considering that it was all about the youth festival scene.
True. I obviously had no idea of what happens during such art fiestas, considering that I lived outside
Kerala most of my life.  Shine sir had given me a hang of things, and the days I spent at Maharaja's College helped. I was very dedicated to the movie because people in Kerala have welcomed me with an open heart and I didn't want them to regret it (laughs).

Many scenes required you to prepare well,including the speeches.
It wasn't easy at all. I remember spending a lot of time preparing the first speech. Shine sir was
adamant that it had to be flawless because it was the first speech in the movie and people would really note it. It had to be done in a single take, or else it wouldn't get the desired effect. The words had to be perfect and match the energy level, so I rehearsed a lot before delivering that one. Not just that, many other scenes required immense preparation too.

Did it annoy you that the movie was getting inordinately delayed, especially with all the trolls and memes doing rounds?  
Not really, I had trust in the team, director and the technicians. Then, I had a first-hand knowledge of how taxing it was to shoot. About 50-60 percent of the movie was shot during a real youth festival and for the remaining, we had to create that mood. That takes a lot of effort and time. Even the trolls and criticisms didn't annoy me one bit. I enjoyed them, and that's why I kept sharing it with the world.

You have Alphonse Puthren's next coming up.
Yes, I am very excited about the project. It is in Tamil and based on music. The script was locked a few days back and we are yet to sit for discussions. However, it is too soon to be talking about that. We haven't decided on the shooting dates or anything and we are in no rush either.