For someone who claims to have not been serious about acting; but more interested in becoming a writer-director, Neeraj Madhav has proven his histrionic skills and how. “ Buddy happened rather unexpectedly, and the rest followed. Becoming an actor wasn’t part of the plan.” With Lava Kusha a part of his initial plan - writing a script - goes into force.
He lets out only this much about the film - that its a spy comedy about two ‘losers’ and how they fumble their way through a situation and solve a mystery. “And no, it is not in the Dasan-Vijayan mould, if we are talking about it as a genre, then may be yes.” Scripting the film, he says, was not easy. It took time, the first half especially. Once that was in place, the rest flowed. “The screenplay was visually conceived, it is a very visual film. And there are many characters. As a writer it was an experiment.” Writing is not new to him, he used to write and has contributed stories to magazines.
From Buddy to Oru Mexican Aparatha , in the very short four years in the film industry, as actor he has made some characters memorable. Neeraj has always brought something extra to the table as actor - as Memories ’ unnamed car mechanic, Drishyam ’s cable guy Monichan, Saptamashree Thaskaraha ’s radio mechanic Narayanankutti, Oru Vadakkan Selfie ’s Thankamma, Adi Kappiyare Kootamani’s Eldho and Oru Mexican Aparatha ’s Subhash - and in the odd-film as choreographer too.
“Most of the roles came my way, and I was not too serious about acting. But somewhere down the line I realised this is where my talents lay, that this was something I could do and I got serious. I started working, consciously, on the characters. And no, I don’t mean the heavy-duty method acting thing either,” he says.
It meant reading the script thoroughly, understanding what his character means to the story and working towards making it convincing. And also resisting being typecast. That resolve shows in his evolution as actor, and the gradual change of his profile. With Oozham and Oru Mexican Aparatha he went ‘serious’. Oru Mexican Aparatha’s Subhash was one such character, “with Subhash people realised that I could pull off a serious role as well; it helps that over time I have also gained confidence.”
Along the way he has made friends, close friends like Aju Varghese who egged him on. The duo as proven its chemistry over the course of films such as Oru Vadakkan Selfie and Adi Kappiyare Kootamani , to name two. The idea of Lava Kusha was among the many he had, one that he had discussed with Aju. “He told me to work on something that the two of us could work on together, a film story featuring two guys like us.” And Lava Kusha, directed by Gireesh Mano came to be. Biju Menon also appears in the film.
Since he is in the film, it would have been easy to tailor a role for himself. “I didn’t. Instead I wanted to use our combined chemistry - Biju-ettan, Aju and me - and work out that combination. Aju and I have worked with Biju-ettan before and we gel together, so it is about the trio.” With this film he, and Aju, turn singers as well.
He is not done, this year he turns hero with Pypin Chuvattile Pranayam . “I asked Domin D’Silva, the director, why me? I needed to understand that, and that goes for any film. Domin told why he wanted me in the film.” Then there is Rosapoov , of which the shoot is on.
