Acclaimed playwright Jayaprakash Kuloor took one look at the captivating smile of a young man in the audience who was watching his drama with that beguiling smile on his face. Jayaprakash then asked a mutual friend if the young man could act in his play. More than happy to oblige, the man — Sheril — said a ‘yes’ that changed his life and gave him a career. He acted in a two-man play for the first time and then, went on to act in 60 dramas, some of them solo plays. “The two-man play got a good response and since then, there has been no looking back. I always had a deep interest in dramatics and had acted in school and college plays, but I never thought of taking it up as a career. The offer by Jayaprakash changed my life,” he recalls reverentially.
Right now, Sheril has got a tough challenge ahead of him for which he is practising hard in Kochi. He step into the shoes of boxing legend Muhammad Ali through the play Ali- Beyond the Ring which will be staged on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Kochi. As the name indicates, the play will not only look at the quicksilver boxing moves of the legend but also focus on little known aspects of his life beyond the ring. The play, directed by Joy P.P. and written by Madan Babu focuses on three focal areas— Ali’s fight against racism, his conversion to Islam and his fight against the Vietnam War.
It was a play Sheril was part of earlier that made the makers decide to zero in on him to play the part. He says, “Johnson, who is part of the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Kochi which is organising the play, asked me if I could play the legend and I readily agreed.” The ‘yes’ came easily, but the preparations were not a walk in the park.
Sheril reveals, “I saw a lot of videos and documentaries on Ali’s life to understand him better as a person and as a boxer. If you notice, Ali’s boxing style is almost like dancing and imitating that style was very difficult. I have two boxers training me for the past six months.”
So is he nervous about stepping into such overtly large shoes? “Not at all,” he answers, stating, “I am confident. My job is to make the audience believe that the person they see on stage is Ali and I am sure I can pull it off.”
Sheril has acted in a Malayalam film which won a Film Critics Award and he has an upcoming film , but the stage is his first love. The advantages of acting on stage are manifold, he says. “There is a direct interaction with the audience and the responses — positive or negative — are also instant. The bliss I get while on a stage can never be matched by films. I have ample time to rehearse; so I try to perfect everything. Also everyone in the cast and crew stay together as one close-knit family.”
