Clint Alok, art in action

Little Alok is busy posing for photographs and selfies in between greeting the crowd that has gathered around him. Alok, who plays the lead character in the movie on the child prodigy Clint, is patient enough to answer questions with “yes”, “no”, and silly expressions.  

“We brought him here straight from school,” says his mother, trying to keep an eye on Alok, who pops up in between the crowd clutching his skullcap and grey necktie. Alok is full of energy, like every other 7-year-old. Alok and his parents were attending the audio release of Clint.

By the time Alok sits down for the interview, he is quite tired but happy that he just had dinner. “I just had rice and pappadum,” he says, while his big eyes brighten up, adding, “I like chicken fry.”

Just before dinner, music maestro Ilayaraja, who has composed for the movie, praised Alok’s performance. Alok, who is too young to realise the gravity of those words, grinned when asked how he felt about that. “It was good,” he says, nodding his head. 

So was it difficult to act as Clint? He thinks for a while and says “Yes, a little bit. Half difficult,” he says, as his parents laugh at the answer. "I also liked acting with Unni uncle (Unni Mukundan) and Rima aunty (Rima Kallingal),” he adds. 

Clint, whose paintings are still loved for their perfection, started drawing as a toddler. But Alok is quite the opposite. “I don’t like drawing,” he says, and adds, “My hobby is playing with the abacus. I like maths.”

So who did all the paintings in the movie? “I just had to do the actions. All the paintings were done by the art people,” he explains. Leaning on the arms of the sofa, he starts to slide down. He seems to be growing impatient. 

When asked how difficult it was to get him to act during the filming, his mother says, “Director Harikumar was telling us that the minute he says  ‘action’, Alok is a different person.” His father adds, “Until a minute before the shoot, it would be hard to find him on the sets. He keeps running around.” 

Alok is excited when quizzed about his favourite cartoon. “I like Ben10, I like Krishna’s cartoon also and Spider Man, I have the costume also. But it does not have web shooter,” he says.

So would he like to act as Spider Man? Pat comes the reply,  “Yes".