Sudhanshu Saria’s Indian English film Loev is all set for screening at the Kalabhavan Theatre in Vazhuthacaud as part of the International Film Festival of Kerala. When the show starts, a young lad in Kerala attire — white shirt, kasavu mundu and chappals — came out of the theatre holding a bamboo sculpture presented to him by the festival organisers. That is Siddharth Menon, the lead actor in Loev. Though he is a Malayali, it is his first time at this prestigious film fete of Kerala.
“In fact, this film had a screening in South Asian film Festival two days back. I did not choose to go for that fete just because I really wanted to attend the IFFK, which is happening here in my homeland,” says the actor who graduated into films from theatre. Siddharth was born to Malayali parents and was brought up in Pune. “My graduation (B.com) was at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce there. I opted for the course only to secure admission in that college, which is noted for grooming many actors and sportsmen. Of course, my eye was on the college’s theatre group. Post college days, we 10 friends started a theatre group ‘Natak Company’.
It was while doing theatre, I got the call to films,” says Sidharth, who got an opportunity to become part of Marathi plays. On his film career, he says, “In fact, I got the opportunity to associate with the diploma films done by students of the Film and Television Institute of India, which was situated near our college. Those days helped me to know more about cinema. I prefer to call it as a non-paid film course,” he says, adding, “Later, it was after watching my performances for ‘Natak company’ that I got call from director Anurag Kashyap’s office for their production venture Peddlers.” Though Peddlers hasn’t had a theatre release in India so far, he could attend many film festivals include the Cannes just because of that film.
“I still do not know the reason why it did not get released. Anyway, it was that film which helped me land a role in this movie — Loev. In the meantime, I could act in a few Marathi films as well,” he says. Quizzed about his love for cinema, he says, “ My parents are the reason for my love for cinema. We used to go and watch films of all language in theatres right from my schooldays. During vacations in Kerala, my amma used to collect cassettes of those Malayalam films we missed at movie theatres. You know what, we had gone for films amid my Class 10 board exams. So it’s natural that I became an actor.” So, is he is all set to enter Malayalam film industry? “I have approached a few Malayali directors, including Anjali Menon and Santhosh Sivan. I hope I would get a chance to debut here soon,” he signs off.
