Aju Varghese may not be playing the hero but he has a very strong presence in the industry in the role of a confidant, sidekick or a friend of the hero.
An actor who has no qualms about playing character roles, he belongs to the new breed of thinking, intelligent actors who do not bother about being typecast in a slot but at the same time manage to be innovative with their appearance or mannerisms with every movie.
Fresh from the success of his recent release Oru Vadakkan Selfie, he is in a happy space. Aju has some interesting roles in forthcoming films like KL 10 Pattu, a Malabar based love story, where the characters speak the dialect of the region. Yet again, Aju plays a common friend to the hero and his brother.
Since the Malabar region is very familiar to Aju, the dialect should not present a problem. Aju corrects, “There is a difference between the Thalassery, Calicut and Malappuram dialects and Thalassery slang is easier.”
The incredible luck of acting with the superstars, veterans as well as the young Turks belongs to Aju. Aju agrees, “Except Prithviraj and Suresh Gopi, I have acted with almost all the actors. Each actor has taught me something different. These are people I have grown up idolising and they have become my mentors. Be it Mammootty, Mohanlal or Jayasurya, they all have the large-heartedness to genuinely see me grow.”
The upcoming Loham starring Mohanlal is very special to him personally and he explains why. “I cannot claim to even say I play a small character, rather I am a presence but this is an opportunity that I realised after five long years of running behind Ranjith sir because of my huge desire to work with him. I would have played any character in his film; this was a role done only for my personal satisfaction but I got the double bonus of acting with Mohanlal too in the bargain. This will go down in my album of memories to be cherished forever.”
Doesn’t he aspire for bigger roles? “I don’t want to take on huge responsibilities in real or reel life! A lead is a responsibility but a character role means I can concentrate on just my role. I can completely depend on the director and don’t have to be bothered about the creative processes like giving inputs which I am bad at!”
Aju reveals that he had played a lead role once which tanked at the box office which made him rethink his priorities. Before signing off, he quips, “I would love to play a villain but it’s natural to be cast in roles that have become hits.”
