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| film Vaishali |
It is only
understandable why it is extremely difficult to escape typecasting when it
comes to film actors, as there is always a kind of role that a particular actor
seemingly does better than the rest staying within the comfort zone. But every
once in a while we see brave moves from a few of them at trying out roles
diametrically opposite to their trademark image. There have been instances when
it terribly backfired, like when Kavya Madhavan deplorably played a retard and
slaughtered it. Then there are also times when with brilliant performances they
show us a new side shining another part on their versatility spectrum.
Following is a list of such incredibly bold casting where actors played
characters totally against their type and remarkably owned it.
10. Baburaj
as Babu in Salt & Pepper
For years Baburaj was only
seen in villainous roles, mostly as the second in command to the cheif villain.
Then Salt & Pepper happened wherein
he played a marginally effeminate cook with strong homosexual undertones, and
was a brilliant revelation to the Malayali audience for the subtle absurdity he
pulled off so proficiently.
9. Babu
Antony as Lomapada Maharaja in Vaishali
A character that was far
removed from the henchmen and villains Babu Antony was seen doing up until
then and the good guys he played thereafter, in terms of command, grace as well
as getup, ‘Lomapada Maharaja’ is also perhaps the most memorable character in
his career. To begin with, he was the king. Then he represented the time of
crisis and is also the central force that sets the entire movie in motion. A share of the credit also goes to Narendra Prasad who effectively voiced the character.
8. Biju
Menon as Driver Suku in Ordinary
We had seen him as grim
police officers, and then we had also seen him variously as sad, earnest,
brooding as well as violent characters, but not until the quirky ‘Driver Suku’
in Ordinary did we see him on such
lighter vein that made us laugh out loud in abundance with his hilariously
peculiar accent and mannerisms exposing for the first time his impeccable comic
timing that was truly swell, in a movie that would have been largely
unwatchable without him.
7. Salim
Kumar as Samuel in Achan Urangatha Veedu
Although lauded for his
unusual sense of humor, Salim Kumar had only been used for comic relief until
his stint as ‘Samuel’ in Achan Urangatha
Veedu as the troubled father of a gang rape victim. He would of course go
on to play similar tragic characters like in the case of Adaminte Makan Abu that would fetch him the National Award, but his
Samuel is still hauntingly original and very memorable for a breakthrough.
6. Jagathy Sreekumar
as Basheer in Adikkuruppu
Depressed and awkward,
Basheer is a dispossessed character with a memory problem, and it might not sound
like a terribly fitting role to the comedic brilliance of Jagathy Sreekumar.
But disproving any such misconceptions he nailed it like a true professional bringing
in the vulnerability and gloom of a target of unpredictable evils in this eye-opening
performance from the crime film Adikkuruppu
that contrasted with his established reputation.
5. Vijayaraghavan
as Sankaran in Deshadanam
Speaking of Vijayaraghavan,
the dude was forever typecast as the bad guy, if not always the villain, he constantly
took some form to disrupt the smooth running of the story, but in Jayaraj’s Deshadanam, it all flipped and he played
the traumatized father of a boy ordained to priesthood with modest mannerisms
and innocent ways, we felt all the agony and the sense of loss in separation,
and nobody looked at the actor the same way anymore.
4.
Mammootty as Rajamanikyam in Rajamanikyam
One of the best actors
working in Malayalam films today, Mammootty was not especially known for doing
outright slapstick. But playing the titular character in Rajamanikyam, he not only broke the convention, but he did that
with a bang accompanied by a riotous accent and side splitting antics for the
first time. Similar caricatures with loud mannerisms minus the characteristic
vernacular followed in great number, but ‘Rajamnikyam’ still remains an ace
although it doesn’t apply to the movie as a whole.
3. Siddique
as Choman in Kannaki
This is one place where the
actor went super un-Siddhique and totally nailed it, playing an uncouth and
foul-mouthed version of Octavius Caesar in Jayaraj’s adaptation of
Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra.
With an oddball stutter and a body language verging on maniacal, Siddhique was a
true revelation, doing a character with so many idiosyncrasies for the first
time, and he owned the show being the eccentric friend gone badass.
2. K.P.A.C.
Lalitha as Narayani in Mathilukal
An actor who helped a great
deal to popularize the domesticity of the Malayali milieu, we had already seen
K.P.A.C. Lalitha as bitchy sisters-in-laws, clueless mothers and foul mouthed
fishwives, but ‘Narayani’ in Adoor’s Mathilukal
went on a total tangent, where she played a bold and seductive lover with adorable
candidness and palpable sensuousness, destroying her hitherto image to bits.
That she never played something so divergent even afterwards says how
surprising the choice seemed at the time.
1. Suresh
Gopi as Kannan Perumalayan in Kaliyattam
It was in fact unbelievable
to see Suresh Gopi take up the elusive character of Shakespeare’s Othello and
deliver it with so much conviction, both in performance and appearance. When
the go-to-guy for crime and action films with an exclusive repertoire for
playing roles of the like of the firebrand Bharathchnadran I.P.S, stripped down
to basic human reflexes devoid of any histrionics, it was a refreshing change
that also fetched him a National Award.
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