Armed with a red rose, dark sunglasses and a smirk, Sharafudheen left the audience in splits in Alphonse Puthren’s Premam. After eliciting laughter in films such as Happy Wedding and Pretham, he surprised the audience with his villainous act in Amal Neerad’s Varathan. Come next week, Sharafudheen will be seen romancing Anu Sithara in AK Saajan’s Neeyum Njanum.
The actor says that even though he plans to turn director someday, for now, he is happy exploring new vistas as an actor. Excerpts from an interview:
The first break...
I have been an avid movie-goer since my school days and the dream to become an actor was always there. Meetings with directors and auditions did not work in my case. I knew Alphonse Puthren since I used to play basketball with him. So when he made Neram he gave me a chance.
Your character from Premam, Girirajan Kozhi, has become a well-known flirt in Malayalam cinema...
The character was developed by Alphonse by taking the traits of a few men that we know. We enjoyed shooting my introduction scene. We improvised during the shoot and the dialogues came through discussions.
What is Alphonse’s working style like?
He gives a lot of freedom and ensures that the actors are not tense during the shooting. I used to be very tense while facing the camera. Since Alphonse is a friend, it helped that I could start my career with him.
You have said in earlier interviews that you want to be an ‘instinctive’ actor while doing comedy and would like to stay away from slapstick humour...
Not any more. I have realised that, at times, slapstick comedy works very well and I don’t mind doing my portions in a louder way, if required. There would be kids or a certain section of the audience who love it. I don’t approach my roles with any preconceived notions.
Do actors face the risk of being branded as a comedian, if you do a few such similar roles?
I don’t want to be branded in any way and I always remind myself that I am not only a comedian. I want to do roles of varying shades. In Malayalam cinema, most of our character artistes are known to excel in humorous situations. The prime example is Mohanlal. In fact, it is a dream to do a full-length comedy with him.
Did you need any special preparations to play the character in Varathan?
It was challenging for me as I had to make the character look convincing. When I heard about the role for the first time, I thought he belonged to a dangerous group. Amal narrated their nature in detail and I connected with them gradually.
What is your role in Neeyum Njaanum and Shafi’s film, Children’s Park?
I don’t want to think about role in Neeyum Njaanum as a hero. That makes me nervous! He is an ordinary guy whom we see around us and not the typical on-screen lover. I play a politician posing himself as the young leader of a political party in Children’s Park.
You are known for your funny one-liners and distinctive style of dialogue delivery. How do you work on it?
It depends on the freedom I am given by the directors. Like what happened during the shooting of Pretham. Director Ranjith Sankar said, ‘You are not playing the character I had conceived, but what you are doing is good’.