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I want to be real and avoid being typecast: Tovino Thomas

The Malayali hearthrob gets candid with City Times about his struggles in the film industry and why his latest release And The Oskar Goes To, is close to his heart

The first movie directed by Malayalam filmmaker Salim Ahamed, Adaminte Makan Abu (Abu, Son of Adam), was India's official entry for the Oscars in 2011. Two movies down the line, the renowned director is here with his new film, And The Oskar Goes To (ATOGT). 
Ahead of the release of the movie in UAE theatres this Thursday, the filmmaker whose last movie Pathemari (Dhow) was based on a Dubai expat's life, says expectations are high for this movie.
As the title suggests, the movie is about the film industry itself and a director's struggle to make his dream come true.
There have been a lot of movies in Malayalam based on stories around the reel world. However, the director asserts ATOGT is entirely different from what viewers have seen earlier. The movie has won four awards, including for the best movie, the best director, actor and supporting actress at the Alberta Film Festival in Canada. The film was released in India last week and received a very good response, both from critics and viewers.
The film's team, including lead actor Tovino Thomas, was in Dubai this week to promote ATOGT in the UAE. City Times caught up with Tovino who talked about his busy and successful acting career.
On the response to ATOGT
"In Kerala, ATOGT is being received well. It has received very good word-of-mouth publicity from those who have watched it. Besides that, both the social media and public forums are full of praise for the film. Initially, people were a bit hesitant as the movie received awards at the Alberta Film Festival. They thought it might be an art house movie! But the word-of-mouth publicity and positive reviews helped in drawing crowds to the theatres. I was in a cinema in Thiruvananthapuram last week and the late-night show was housefull there. It made me happy that it was mainly families who had come to watch the movie at the theatre."
On the character of Ishaq Ibrahim, the struggling director
"I could easily connect to the role of the protagonist, Ishaq Ibrahim. The movie shows how hard he struggles to achieve his dream and passion of making his movie. In my earlier career days, I also experienced such struggles and thus I could easily relate myself to the struggles of Ishaq. Just like what I experienced in my life, the movie shows that you can eventually be successful if you follow your passion and dream. The struggles I had faced in the beginning made it easier for me to portray the struggles of Ishaq. However, it's not just a sad story of the hardships. It's an inspiring movie that encourages you to pursue your dream, whatever it may be."
On the UAE release
"All my earlier movies had been very well accepted in the UAE. Some movies like Guppy were more successful here than they were back in Kerala. So, I expect a very good response for ATOGT here.
"Here in the UAE, all the expats come with a dream of achieving something. And this movie will tell you to pursue that and you can be successful. So, I hope the Malayalis here will love this movie, not just for the message, but also for the quality and emotions in it."
On his reference for the character
"It's my habit to take one (person) as a reference, whenever I get a role. For this movie, it was easier as I had a reference on the director, Salim Ahamed, himself. But that doesn't mean that I have copied him. My reference was Salim Ahamed of my perception. When I first met him, he was a totally unknown person. Slowly, I was able to recognise him. For me, he is not the same person others see. I know a Salim Ahamed, who has a lot of humour, sense and experience. In this film, one of the characters tells my character, "you are a man of few words". I will tell you it's just a case of perception.
"I'm behaving as a movie maker here. Before doing the role, I had a clear idea of what the director wants. I'm always very dependent on my directors. In this film, I've used different types of smiles to express myself on various occasions. You will smile or laugh when you are happy. And when you don't know what to do next, you may have a smile. But both are entirely different in nature. In the second smile, you have tears to hide." 
On his co-stars
"In ATOGT, I have both very experienced actors like Vijayaraghavan, Siddique, Sreenivasan and Salim Kumar, and youngsters like Anu Sithara, Sharath and others as co-stars. I am on good terms with all of them. I had a lot to learn from the veteran actors. If I behave well with others, it will be comfortable for me. I'm very relaxed when I feel that everybody loves me. With that thought in my mind, the advantage is that everybody will be willing to help me in need. I can relate more to youngsters. However, this feeling of love is more important, which will ultimately benefit the movie."
On his other releases
"Another movie of mine, Luka, was also released last week in India. I'm not tense about the release dates affecting the box office performance of the movies. I won't say that it's not going to affect it. The release date is not in my hands. ATOGT was filmed last November and Luka was shot more recently. But post-production works and film festivals delayed the release of ATOGT. But luckily, both Luka and ATOGT are being received well in India."
On doing character roles
"This year, my first solo release is ATOGT. But I had other roles as well. I'm not hesitant to do character roles where they need my contribution and provide some sort of experience to me. I worked with Mohan Lal and Prithviraj in Lucifer and I had an important role there. Then, there were Virus and Uyare, which did well at the box office. There are more to come."
On his bold stand on social media
"I always like to speak clearly. It's not that I started speaking boldly and openly after doing so many movies or becoming successful. From the beginning of my career, I have behaved this way. Social media has its own power. But the way we use it does matter. If you are not irritating me, I love to interact gently. But if somebody continues irritating me, I need to say things clearly. That's what I do."
On the roles he takes on
"I prefer doing different types of roles. If you look at my movies, most of the roles I have done are different from each other. In Lucifer, I was a chief minister while in Uyare, I portrayed the character of an airline company owner. In Virus, I was a district collector. In my opinion, our movies are changing. Earlier, heroes were all good and the villains were bad. But it's far from real. If you look around, you can see a single person has many faces. All the people are vulnerable at one or the other stage of their life. So, I want to be real and avoid being typecast."

50% of this movie is my life, says Director Salim Ahamed
Salim Ahamed, director of And The Oskar Goes To, confesses to City Times that half of the movie is his own story. "The struggles being faced by Ishaq Ibrahim are what I had gone through in the initial days of my career. The struggles I had while making Adaminte Makan Abu. But it's not an autobiography. Half of the movie is fiction and the other half is the reality I had faced."
Salim underlines the movie is not similar to other movies based on the same theme. "The scripting and treatment are entirely different in this movie. This is about anybody who chases his or her dream and struggles to achieve that. And many people who watched ATOGT said this is the career best of Tovino. I'm happy to hear that."
Salim, who left his job in a travel agency to pursue his passion for cinema, is happy about the change in the Malayalam movie world. "Now, good films are being accepted. We get producers for such movies. It proves that the Malayali audience has become mature." Salim adds that the viewers in the UAE watch and review movies more seriously. "That's why I have huge hopes about the release here," he said.
 
 
anuwarrier@khaleejtimes.com