Destined to act

Among the slew of memorable roles the 2013 movie Amen gifted Malayalis, Sudhi Koppa’s was one. But the actor says he has been in the industry for over a decade in uncredited roles in passing shots and blink-and-miss characters. The road to stardom – though he doesn’t want to be called a star – has been rough, but it was worth the journey. He rocked the screen as a double-crossing rogue in Aadu, a naïve cook in You Too Brutus, an alcoholic in Anuraga Karikkin Vellam and a guy who tries hard to catch the heroine’s eye in Udaharanam Sujatha, to name a few. His dad being a theatre artist, the background might have been a trigger, but Sudhi says that all the way through the theatre and mimicry stages, he was sure that movies were his destiny.

“Finding feet in the industry is not easy. The filmmaking style has changed over the years. Earlier, right from the conception stage, filmmakers had certain actors in mind for a role. They just had to make them agree to act. But now, directors want the best performance from whoever plays the character. If I do it right, the role is mine. If not, it’s gone,” says Sudhi, who is glad to have done justice to all his roles so far.

The upcoming Pipein Chuvattile Pranayam has him in the role of Ayyappan, a happy-go-lucky daily wager who is deeply in love with his wife. His performance in the just-released song has invoked much interest about his character. He too has high hopes for it, “This is another very different character of mine. There are emotional moments and romantic scenes, something I haven’t tried earlier.”

In Udaharanam Sujatha, he had handled the Thiruvananthapuram dialect well. Before that, in Sapthamasree Thaskaraha, he played a Thrissurkaran. In the upcoming Eeda, he will speak in Kannur dialect. Pipein Chuvattile Pranayam will see him as a Kochiite like himself. How does he handle it with ease? Laughing, he says, “I have friends everywhere. Interacting with them makes it easy for me to try various dialects. It’s not that I put much effort into learning. It comes naturally to me.”

Asked about his newest roles, Sudhi says, “In Eeda, I am Thulasidharan. Alencier plays my dad and Shane Nigam, my cousin. Aadu 2 is coming up and I will reprise the role of Kanjavu Soman.”

Sudhi confesses that he hasn’t got over the nervousness even after so many films. “I am still tense during shooting. After each scene, I keep on asking the people around if I had done it right. I have no huge dreams like stardom. I just want to deliver good performances and keep raising the bar for each act. I want to be remembered as an actor,” he concludes.