Despite being only a year old in the Malayalam film industry, Vishnu Govindan's career graph is going up. His excitement and the confidence that is reflected in his words are testimony to this. The actor who has so far been associated with humorous characters only has got a different genre to experiment with, the character of Thavalakannan Suku in the recently released movie Premasoothram. “So far I have done roles that have close resemblance with my real life character. I am a person who likes to be happy and it would be a reason why I could handle light roles with ease and make people laugh. I was going through a safe period doing such roles when director Jiju Asokan saw Thavalakanan Suku in me. My look especially the eyes which resemble that of a frog (he giggles) attracted Jiju to approach me with the character. Also he was confident that I could do justice to the role"
Vishnu has nailed the mannerisms of a psychic antagonist who finds sadistic pleasures in harming animals so much so that he has come out of the shell of being a comedian with a bang. Asked if it was challenging to do a negative role he says, "I have done a couple of negative roles for some plays while in college.”
“But this role was challenging because my decision to come out of my comfort zone was at stake.f I fail, it would definitely affect my career adversely. This thought gave me the strength to work hard and do my homework well before going to the location.”
He also referred to various movies and performances like that of Manoj K. Jayan in Sargam in order to learn the gestures and body language of a psychic person and had to undergo a makeover for the character. All thanks to his love for the process of making cinema. Though Vishnu is happy to have gotten an opportunity to try something new in his very short span, he doesn’t strain himself for not being typecast. “Yes, I do wish not to be restricted to the same genre but we need to understand that no two roles are alike. Its the responsibility of an actor to make it look different on screen. Ilike the entire concept of cinema and the process involved in its making. So its fine if I get to do more humorous roles.”
Vishnu says that he is receiving good responses from the audience and his colleagues. “When I posted my look in Premasoothram, on my Facebook page captioning that I have attempted something different this time, one of my friends commented that no matter how serious you are, humour is the only feeling that associates with you. Later on, when the film was released I got to know that a kid was petrified whenever I appeared on the screen. It is the greatest confidence booster that I could ever get,” he concludes.
Vishnu has done a couple of movies including Oru Adaar Love, Professor Dinkan and Chalakudikaran Changathi, which is in the pipeline.
