“Are you comfortable playing a character on the negative side,” Siju Wilson confronted this question from Jeethu Joseph, immediately responding with a yes. That reply makes the swarm of congratulatory messages Siju is getting for playing Jayakrishnan, the antagonist in Aadhi. All he intends is to perform despite the roles that come calling. It was the right time for him to break free from being typecast and it turned out to be a right decision, he feels.
“On the first day of the release, I stayed in my seat when the movie ended. I couldn’t see the film before the release. There were too many claps and whistles for Appu’s (Pranav) character and I was confused how mine would be received. Then viewers came and shook hands with me. Most of them were calling me Jayakrishnan; that means it worked. The response is more than what I had expected,” he recalls with a smile.
Camaraderie between Jeethu and Siju is as old as Malarvadi Arts Club. “Immediately after Malarvadi, I worked for a documentary on Janamaithri Police directed by Jeethu ettan. From then-on, we have been maintaining a good rapport. When this movie came, I was offered this role. Mostly, he was there on the sets offering me tips on carrying off a villainous character. That’s perhaps why people were taken by surprise when I suddenly turned from being gentle to brutal,” says Siju.
Siju, who was noticed for his roles in Neram and Premam, had committed one more Alphonse Puthren project, an untitled venture. For Aadhi, he sports a trimmed look. “Jeethu ettan had shown me an image on how he wanted my appearance in the movie. Since I had to shed about nine kilos for the other movie, by the time I joined the sets of Aadhi, I had to put on some weight,” he narrates.
His location diary was so eventful with Pranav, who made his debut as a hero. “We were all so cool on the sets, be it Jeethu ettan or Satheesh ettan (DoP). Appu never made us feel that he is a star kid and we mostly forgot that fact. He was very cordial and humble throughout,” he says.
Again, Siju would sport a serious look for his next. Is he at that juncture where the comedian in him gives way to serious roles? “To be labelled a good and flexible actor is my ultimate aim. I perform characters I have a liking for. No matter what the role is, audience should never be feel that he came as a replacement for someone else,” he clears.
