Around 11 years ago, Balu Varghese was a high school student when his uncle — actor-filmmaker Lal instructed him to meet director Lal Jose, who was in search of a child artiste in Chanthupottu.
Impressed by Balu, Lal Jose decided to cast him as the younger version of Indrajith’s Kumaran. Years went on and Balu grew up, establishing himself as a good actor through various witty roles include those in Honey Bee and Ithihasa.
Even then, his main target was to act under the direction of his uncle, who has created several hits when Balu was a toddler. Now, Balu's dream has come true with him essaying a prominent role in Lal’s latest directorial venture King Liar, which is all set to hit the screens.
“In my very first film itself, I got the opportunity to act with uncle, who produced that movie. Later, I could essay the younger version of his roles include that in Thalapavvu. From those days itself, my dream was to act under his direction. More than his relative, I used to follow his films as a fan. It was then I got an offer to don a small role in his 2012 film Cobra. But those portions were directed by his son Jean chettan (Lal Junior). Now, it is through King Liar I got the chance to essay a full-length role under his direction," he says.
In this Dileep-starrer for which the estranged hit pair Siddique and Lal unites, Balu acts as Antappan. “It was last year that I got the offer to this film. I had been the part of a stage show directed by Siddique-Lal and it was during the pack up of that show they told me about the role. Though I was aware of this project, I had no clue that I would get a prominent role in this film. My character Antappan is a close friend of Dileep ettan’s Sathyanarayanan, who is literally a king of liars. Though Antappan is a supporter of Sathyanarayan, he is not brilliant as the latter,” says the actor, who has yet another release this month.
Balu acts as an aspiring filmmaker in Prithviraj-starrer Darwinte Parinamam. “My character Ravi is a former assistant director who wants to make his own film. In fact, he doesn’t know anything about films, but he cheats others in the name of filmmaking. It is an out-and-out comic role,” says Balu, who is all set to join the sets of V.K. Prakash’s Biju Menon starrer Marubhoomiyile Aana.
