Jagadish had not read Leela, the short story by Unni R., at the time he got the call from director Ranjith, inviting him to be a part of his new film. He was offered the role of a negative character in Leela, adapted from Unni's story.
Not that Jagadish had a problem with doing a negative character, but this particular role was a lot different from anything he has done, or perhaps anything Malayalam cinema has seen so far.
“To my wife and then my two girls,” he says, even as he is busy campaigning for the Assembly elections that he is contesting from Pathanapuram, Kollam. “I told Ranjith I will call you back in five minutes to ask my wife and kids how they felt about my taking up this character. They said ‘you have to definitely do this’. It is a challenging role.” He has, he says, a positive image from playing mostly positive characters in movies.
But there have been a few in the past where he has played a villain. “In Sethurama Iyer CBI, I had some justification in being the murderer. Then there was a film where I became the reason for Mohanlal’s death. This was at the peak of his superstardom.”
He wasn’t scared though. He read the story by Unni R. after the film was released. It does appear a more than daring move, however, at a time he is contesting an election. It is all a matter of how you perceive his choice — either as that of a dedicated actor or as an image conscious wannabe politician. “I had some justification in being the murderer in Sethurama Iyer CBI ”
