The slightly overweight boy with the chubby cheeks last seen in Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum is a thing of the past. Instead, the chocolate boy lean look of Kalidas Jayaram is turning female hearts to mush if the recent national advertisement campaign of Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Bubbly is anything to go by and this is his first appearance on screen before the release of his Tamil film.
The setting of the 46 second ad has him and his female co-star sitting in a room filled with balloons with Kalidas using just his expressive eyes and facial expressions to emote his feelings of love. The lad has already garnered appreciation earlier on from stalwarts in the industry for his perfect mimicking of Kollywood superstars at an awards function and once again goes on to prove why he won the National Award for the Best Child Actor in 2003.
Normally an actor endorses a brand after he has acted in a few films and has made a name for himself but Kalidas seems to have broken down set patterns. Explaining that the ad came to him out of the blue, he says, “The director of the ad selected me randomly and I went through an audition before being finalised. This is a very big brand and so I decided to not let go of the offer.”
The ad was shot in a day in Mumbai and ever since the ad has come out, Kalidas’s phone has not stopped ringing with fans, friends and relatives calling up to express their appreciation. He shyly says, “I have been getting a positive response from everyone including some of the industry veterans too. Gautham Menon sent me a message saying he liked the ad as also Dhanush sir.” When asked about the female fans he just smiles and says “They liked it too!” Kalidas’s parents Jayaram and Parvathy were present throughout the shoot of the ad and if they liked it then, they are doubly pleased with the final output now.
The proud father is gushing with pride and joy as he shares, “He got the National award at a young age and now he is a part of a national ad for a reputed MNC brand that is going viral and that is again another achievement. The makers wanted a neutral looking, innocent face that would find universal appeal across whole of India and I am glad Kalidas fit the bill.” Jayaram is not a father who interferes with the career decisions of his son. Jayaram explains, “The selection of films is completely his decision. He is someone who has grown up in the industry and so the excitement that I had is not there in him. He has the freedom and the maturity to choose his roles and he will find his comfort and safe zone himself. The New gen kids don’t need to be advised; we parents prefer to remain in the shadows and enjoy their successes.”
Coming back to his film Oru Pakka Kathai directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan, Kalidas informs that the shoot of the film is over and that he is waiting with bated breath for the release. It was the legend Kamal Haasan who showed up to introduce Kalidas to the Kollywood audience. Talking about his comeback Tamil film after his last Malayalam film in 2003, Kalidas says, “I was very nervous initially but then we had a lot of acting workshops so by the time we went for the actual shoot all the nervousness had dissipated. I felt like I had been shooting for a while because of the workshops and I should be thanking Balaji for the acting lessons.
The film is of a very different genre and I am hoping that it catches the fancy of the audience.” Mollywood is where he debuted so why is he giving Mollywood a miss? Kalidas answers, “If I get some interesting offers, I will definitely work in Malayalam. I don’t have any set criteria as such and if I like the story and it has scope for me to perform, I will act. What I may also consider is the team but the script is what is most important.” Kalidas, a Visual Communications student mentions that he is getting a lot of offers from Malayalam but is waiting for the right script.
