Nine-year-old Sanoop Santhosh walked towards Mukesh. Shyly he told the senior actor, “I am doing it for the movie… yelling at you in a scene. Please don’t take it wrongly.” Amused, Mukesh turned to Sanoop’s sister, actor Sanusha, who was also with them, at the location of 'Philip and the Monkey Pen', “It is I who told him that Mukeshettan is a big actor and scared him. So he went nervously and said this,” said Sanusha, proud of her little brother who made his debut in films, following her footsteps.
“I did not really have a clue of what I was doing when I acted as a kid. But I never gave him any tips. I thought he must do it his way. He is our lucky charm, the superstar in our lives. We would also love to see him as a superstar in movies,” she added. Next to her, stood the excited little star and in his squeaky little voice he said, “I loved all of it, meeting the legendary actors and playing with the other children on the sets, the directors were just like us children, it was totally fun.”
The role came his way when he accompanied his sister to the sets of 'Zachariyayude Garbinikal'. Producer Sandra Thomas who saw him there introduced him to the directors of 'Monkey Pen'…, Rojin and Shanil. “They told me to be Ryan Philip, a very naughty character, who is poor in Mathematics. I got help from everywhere. Jayan chettan (Jayasurya) would practice every scene with me, Remya chechi was also helpful. To Mukesh uncle and Joy Mathew Sir, I told them not to be upset with me for yelling at them, in the movie. Innocent uncle would make me laugh in scenes I am supposed to cry,” said the fourth grader of Sreepuram English Medium High School and Junior College, Kannur. “In real life, I am not so weak in Mathematics. My toughest subject is actually Hindi,” he said. “I want to thank my principal and teachers of the school for their support.”
About to turn nine this December 12, Sanoop added, “I was born the same day as superstar Rajnikanth.”
