Malayali audience haven’t seen a villain as handsome and fierce as Amarnath of the recent release Kalki. The antagonist of the Tovino starrer has been grabbing the spotlight ever since the release of his character video. Shivajith Padmanabhan, who has given life to the menacing villain, had been waiting for this much-needed break in Mollywood ever since he started trying his luck in cinema, and it makes him both happy and tensed at the same time.
Despite making his debut with Jayaraj directorial Veeram and also appearing in a prominent role in Ranam aka Detroit Crossing, there was an indeterminate break in Shivajith’s career until he saw the casting call for Kalki on Tovino’s Instagram handle. Without any hesitation, Shivajith called up Prashob Krishna, the producer of the film who was also his junior in college. The rest, as Shivajith puts it, ‘is on the screen’. “I called up Prashob and asked him if there is a role suitable for me in his upcoming movie and sent him some of my photographs as per his requirement. He spoke to Praveen Prabharam, the director of the movie, and asked me to visit them. Praveen briefed me the script and gave an outline about the character. He clearly knew that he could mould me into Amarnath. The most important thing that had to be kept in mind while giving shape to Amarnath’s character was that the fierceness and cruelty in his eyes and face had to be maintained throughout the movie. At times, before the shooting began, I used to be confused as to how I would actually maintain that feel,” says Shivajith, adding that he makes up his own story about a character in his head that would shape the characteristics and behavior of that particular person.
This makes him feel like the character and helps him slowly get into the process of being that character.
Hitting the gym for a well-built body and six-pack abs required for Amarnath’s character was not a difficult task for the multitalented Amarnath, who started learning Kathakali at the age of nine and is a two-time Kalaprathibha title holder in the state youth festival. Though one might be amazed as to how a person, who might be flexible enough to master almost all classical dance forms, can build his body to the extent to look sturdy, it cannot be denied that the transformation reflects the young actor’s passion towards his work. He also owes it to the homework he does. “I do multiple small videos on how the character might react in various circumstances and send them to the director. They then correct me and brief me what to add and subtract in order to be the character they are looking for. But I must say that once I am at the location, nothing that I have already planned works in my favour. There, the ambiance, my get-up for the character and the scene decide how I react. However, I think I cannot be calm without doing homework because only then do I really feel that I am working for the character,” laughs Shivajith.
Ask him about the experience of working in Kalki and an overwhelmed Shivajith says, “Kalki was a movie made by people who are like family. They just added me and some other characters of the movie to the family. I am humbled by the support and love that the cast and crew have given me. It is extremely gratifying
to see that the lead actor of the movie is promoting another actor, a relatively new one, to an extent where the audience make it a point to watch the villain with the same enthusiasm as that of watching the hero. If I weren’t supported and encouraged by the entire team including the lead actors like Samyuktha and Tovino, people might see the character video, watch the movie and if they liked my performance would notice me. However, the promotions persuaded them to look forward to watch Amarnath,”One might wonder why the Kalaprathibha title didn’t open an avenue for Shivajith in Malayalam cinema. Shivajith says that movies have always been his passion and the headline ‘Shivajith wants to become an actor’ that many newspapers carried for his interview when he won the title was not just a comment made by a child who strongly believed that dance and the title would serve as a break for him in cinema, exactly like in the case of many leading female actors of Mollywood.
“I was in an age where boys could not be cast as child actors or in lead role. It was tough and disheartening when I constantly got negative replies from directors. None of them had a character for me in their movie. It was director Lohithadas who served as a mentor and strong support for me during those tough times. Even while I was in Bengaluru working as an animation professional and learning theatre, I used to be constantly in touch with Lohi sir. He even had plans to cast me in a movie. However, unfortunately it did not work out," concludes Shivajith, adding that the director was one of the major reasons why he didn’t quit working towards his passion.
