Surprised by the state award
GP, who bagged the state award for best television anchor, didn't believe it until calls and messages flooded his phone.
Coming out of the blue means this. As what fell upon telephiles’ darling boy Govind Padmasoorya aka GP — the state award for best television anchor. Aju Varghese was the first to fetch the glad tidings of the surprise award to the sets of Pretham on Cherai beach. GP not only pooh-poohed and deadpanned at Aju, but was pushing the news-breaker into utter confusion for hours.
“I thought he was pulling my leg as I didn’t even know when the awards would be announced,” narrates GP. “He returned and repeated the same a short while later. Seeing me stay restrained, Aju himself stood perplexed thinking if he fact-checked things properly. Later when I checked my phone I noticed around 35 missed calls; there were many messages, too. Only then did I get an idea of what happened.”
An excited, playful GP in the first two editions of the dance reality show D4 Dance was poles apart from the calm, composed and elegant host of Adi Mone Buzzer, a family game show, which has brought him the state award. “Presenting such a programme was a challenge of a different order,” GP shares his Buzzer experience. “There was less emotional attachment with the participants. From the personal side, I had to prove myself. I was careful with the body language also.”
In Ranjith Sankar movie Pretham, GP enacts Shibu Majeed who runs a beach-side resort with three friends. The comedy-horror flick sketches the trio meeting with mysterious twists and turns in their life after getting into the business. The other two are Aju (Denny Kokken) and Sharafudheen (Priyalal). Pretham has GP and his D4 co-host Pearle Maaney reappearing together on the screens after the reality TV.
After the Adi Mone Buzzer season, GP was on a roaming mode, touring around the US before landing on Pretham. Shibu Majeed has a slice of the wanderlust, cool-headed GP, who is a Zumba instructor in the film.
GP’s mobile phone still rings restlessly with invites galore from television channels, but he is in no hurry. “I want to do things new and experiment myself on newer platforms. When the right one comes, I’ll sign,” GP is clear. After the beach scenes in Cherai, he is getting ready for a location shift in Ernakulam.