Ambrose alias Ambru of 2013 released Honey Bee is the character that helped Balu Varghese to get noticed among Malayalam film buffs as an actor. Balu, who later became one of busiest supporting actors of M’town, has again stepped into the shoes of Ambru with the sequel of Honey Bee, titled as Honey Bee 2 Celebrations. Balu says he was very happy when he was called to enact the same role. “The first thing that Jean (Paul Lal) ettan told me was that I should keep up the energy level of Ambru as in the prequel.”
“The main reason was that though this film is coming after a gap of three years, the story which is being narrated is just a continuation of the first part. I think this is for the first time that such a kind of film is happening in Malayalam where the actors have to ensure even the costume continuity,” he says. Since the release of Honey Bee, there have been speculation that the makers are planning for a sequel. Then why did it get delayed? “In fact, it was through the poster we released on the 60th day of Honey Bee that we announced the sequel. Though it was like a marketing gimmick, we got many calls inquiring about the new part. It was then we realised the expectations of audiences. From then, we were looking for an apt story for the sequel and it was last year our director zeroed in on a good storyline,” says Balu.
Quizzed about the change in the treatment of the subject, he replies, “This time, we wanted to keep the film completely different from the prequel. When that one was about a group of youngsters, this time we focused on family matters too.” Balu is currently in Goa busy with the shoot of Chunks in which he essays the lead role along with Vishakh Nair, Ganapathy and Honey Rose. “It is a fun, campus entertainer, which completely stands out of my previous ventures,” says the actor, who has two more films in his kitty — debutant Arun Dominic's untitled film and Arungeorge David’s Laddu.
