Too many passions, one little man

He was nervous all over again. Shalu Rahim used to have stage fear, a crowd scared him. But he thought he was over all that once he became a DJ in Dubai. Two years later he stood in front of Rajeev Ravi, nervous to the core. He was auditioning for a film, years after he had decided never to act. A childhood experience had put him off movies, but a phone call had brought him to Kochi and to Rajeev Ravi and he became Dulquer Salmaan’s younger version in Kammattipadam. “It was a call from Anju chechi, the casting director of the film. I remember the date she messaged me on Facebook — November 29, 2015, after seeing my Instagram photos.”

“I was DJing at a boring party when I decided to check my messages. At first I thought it was a prank,” says Shalu. But when he knew it was serious, he got his visa stamped with the help of his boss and took off to Kochi. “I met Geetu chechi (Geetu Mohandas) and she put me at ease about acting. Another man who’s helped me a lot apart from Rajeev ettan is cinematographer Madhu Neelakantan.” Only the first day of the shooting he had been a little nervous. But even that didn’t last long. “I had an accident before the first day and I hurt my leg. But I didn’t tell anyone,” he laughs like the kid he is. “But I am 21,” he says, wishing not to be put down as a child actor.

He had in fact got his first film offer as a child back in 2008. “For a Hindi film for which I was going to play Madhavan’s child version. I had told everyone at school and even booked my tickets to Mumbai. When it didn’t happen, it was such a sad thing with everyone teasing me for days.” A little later he acted with Beena Antony in a short film called Amma. But seeing a lot of people together had put him off acting. Those were the days he went to the Trivandrum International School, excelling in sports. “I played volleyball, cricket and badminton.” Badminton continued in college in Dubai where he became champion. It’s also in college he became a DJ. "I listened to a lot of Coke Studio music covers and thought I should also produce some music, do some remix."

But now he wants to concentrate on his acting, and has moved to Kochi to pursue this interest. He is shooting an ad film now and has signed up for a Malayalam film to play hero. “I will try my luck for one year, while also DJing and pursuing my other interests like cooking and biking.”