Break from navy, break in films

In his teen days, Abijith Paul’s dream was to become a merchant navy officer. He wrote the national entrance test soon after completing his studies and was trained in the US for a year. After the training period, he joined a US company. While there, he got his licence in dynamic positioning.  For the past ten years, he has been into this field.

“I am the youngest DPO from the country. I was a part of the search and rescue operation team that looked after the missing case of Malaysia Airlines,” says Abijith, elder brother of actor Amala Paul.  

“I took one-year break from my job during Amala’s wedding. Later, I became a part of A.L. Vijay’s (brother-in-law) four movies on the production side,” says Abijith, who is still on a break from his job.

He will be seen in a prominent role in Vijay’s upcoming Bollywood project Two in One, which will also be made in Tamil as Devi(l), and Telugu as Abhinetri. “I have been thinking of taking acting seriously and then Vijay told me about this character. I am getting launched as a villain, as I wished,” says Abijith who will be playing the character Vicky, a spoilt brat.

“In certain movies, villains get prominence and people like them. I look for such characters,” he adds.

It is not the glamour quotient of the movie industry that lured Abijith. He wants to be a socially responsible actor. “My sister and I are into social service. When an actor indulges in social service, the reach would be more. My sister is the best example. We have a group working for women’s empowerment and education. We are coming up with activities that would erase evils that suppress women from achieving what they deserve. The latest from our gang is a short film based on a recent incident,”says Abijith.

“My parents and sister are very supportive. Amala explained to me that an actor’s career graph fluctuates and I should learn to balance.”

Prabhu Deva and Tamannaah are doing the lead roles in Abijith’s debut movie. An admirer of Prabhu Deva, Abijith had a great time working with him.

“I have seen him as a good dancer and director. In this movie, I saw his acting prowess,” says Abijith who learnt some martial arts and horse riding for the movie.

Abijith desires to work in Mollywood too. “One project is in the pipeline. It is again as a serious villain character,” concludes the budding actor who loves going for explorations during leisure time.