Several years ago, when he read an article on Moideen and Kanchanamala, Tovino Thomas would have never thought that he was to essay a prominent role in the film based on their tragic love story. The 26-year-old actor, who was noticed for his characters in ABCD and Seventh Day, is back to big screen with yet another impressive performance as Perumparambil Appu in Ennu Ninte Moideen.
It was actor Prithviraj who suggested Tovino’s name to director RS Vimal. “I got Prithviraj’s call when I had just finished Koothara. We had worked together in Seventh Day and that might have prompted him to suggest my name. When Vimal chettan came to narrate the script, he also showed me his documentary — Jalam Kondu Murivettaval — based on the same theme. Only then did I remember that I had read an article on this story. I could even recollect a sentence ‘Aa vellaramkallukal meen kothiyirunnu’,” he says excitedly.
The role in Ennu Ninte Moideen is something he has never done in his three-year-old acting career — Appu is based on a real life character and he is in a retro avatar.
“Though the name has been changed in the film, such a person lived in Mukkam, where the story happens. Appu is the close friend of Moideen and the first cousin of Moideen’s lover Kanchana (portrayed by Parvathy). Appu is a football player and is a member of the Mukkam team along with Moideen,” Tovino says.
The film is set in a time period of 1965 to 1985. “I was born after that and so, I had no clue about that period apart from the information I gained through movies and this script. Also, the slang in the movie is completely new for me. It is the director, who helped me work without much confusion,” he says.
The actor also sports two different getups in the movie. “In one stage of the movie, I have a pencil-thin moustache and retro hairstyle, and some other scenes were shot with me sporting a beard.”
However, the retro style turned to be a comic factor in his life. “My wedding was between the shoot of this movie and to follow the continuity, I had to appear in retro style. I think, if I compare the wedding pictures of mine and my parents’, my father will be more stylish and modern,” Tovino laughs.
On his latest projects, Tovino said he was portraying the role of a full-length antagonist in Style in which his career’s first action sequence would be shot. Style, directed by Ithihasa fame Binu, has Unni Mukundan in the lead.
