Palliyangadi's own Pepe

Antony Varghese, Vincent Pepe of Angamaly Diaries, is happy that he chose to stay back in Angamaly instead of taking a flight to Singapore. Otherwise, this young chap who created a Tsunami of sorts in Mollywood with his debut in the cult movie, would have been sitting in an office at Singapore coordinating logistics for some multi-national company. “I had two options — either to move to Singapore or to stay back in Angamaly and await my chance for the big break in movies. My parents — Varghese and Alphonsa — had spent a fortune on my studies. And I thought that if I could sacrifice my post-graduation due to my addiction to movies, why not the Singapore job! That decision turned out to be right and got me a chance to meet director Lijo Jose Pellissery,” Antony says.

“He had seen a short film in which I had portrayed the protagonist. I was initially cast in a minor role in Angamaly Diaries and only on the first day of the shoot was I told that I was the lead actor. It was the greatest shock of my life,” recalls Antony, a native of Kavaraparambu in Angamaly. “The tagline of the movie is ‘Katta Local’ and I was indeed a katta local guy in Angamaly,” he says with the now-famous enchanting smile. Antony’s acting stint in short films began on his days at the Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam; some of those were directed by his friends. He is on cloud nine to have taken his baby steps through a movie that has crossed all clichés of the industry with its versatile story line, script and direction. He is proud to be part of a movie that has scripted a new chapter in the industry.

“The shoot began on October 11 and I was very excited because it was my birthday. What was difficult was not facing the camera, but getting the kicks and punches during the fight shoots. It feels funny now; I was kicked and punched a lot by the actors,” he said. Antony is currently busy attending promotional events of Angamaly Diaries at various educational institutions. Since its release, he has been getting calls from various directors and writers and he has kept all those waiting till April. Till then, there is only Angamaly for this Angamali karan.