Old is gold seems to be the mantra of the moment for Anoop Menon. After back-to-back hits at the box office, Pavada and Karinkunnam Sixes , the actor is looking for a hat-trick with his upcoming film Pa.Va ( Paappanekkurichum.
Varkkiyekkurichum ). The film, in which he plays an octogenarian, hits theatres today. The underlying theme of the movie is the friendship between two old men, Devassy Paappan (Murali Gopy) and Perianthanam Varkichan (Anoop). The two characters could not be more different, gushes the actor.
“Varkichan is as bubbly as Paappan is irascible. He’s a hapless romantic while Paapan is hard-working and rules the roost with an iron fist. Varkiachan is young at heart loves music and collects curios and artefacts like a piece of the Berlin Wall, while Paapan is a miser. Yet, the bond between them is strong,” he says, adding that he could relate to the character as soon as director Sooraj Tom and scriptwriter Ajish Thomas described Varkichan to him. “I have many friends like him; old planters and retired military personnel, who live in a similar vintage, alcoholic, romantic haze, after a long, fruitful life,” says Anoop.
He was particularly inspired by his friend, George. “George chayan is a Kushwant Singh-like character, who lives in Coonoor. Like Varkichan, he takes pleasure in life’s little joys. He spends his retired life with his daily dose of Single Malt, reading and writing and publishing poetry in little magazines. You get to play such characters only at this point in your career and not after you have lost your mobility! One of my acting heroes Venu chettan [Nedumudi Venu], was playing characters twice and thrice his age in films like Aranyakam and Ambada Njane , when he was in his 30s. Also, the subject of Pa.Va is a totally new and just as you get comfortable with the duo’s camaraderie, the film takes a completely new turn,” he adds.
Then again, Anoop is one of those rare breed of actors who is comfortable in all sorts of roles – the hero, the friend and sidekick, the father, the husband, the uncle, the boss, the coach… “I am just an actor and we actors are a lucky lot because we get to play many lives in one life. I love experimenting, playing characters that are not even remotely connected to my personality. The cricket coach in 1983 and the diabolical dad in Vikaramadithyan , for instance,” says Anoop.
And, off course, there’s the role of the volleyball coach in Karinkunnam Sixes , which is presently scoring big at the BO. Anoop plays second fiddle to Manju Warrier, who acts as his wife and volleyball coach herself, in the Deepu Karunakaran movie. “It’s a sports movie, yes. But it’s so much more than that. It’s also about how a wife strives to complete her husband’s dreams. I see infinite romantic capabilities in such a storyline. Initially, theatres shied away from it because it is women-centric and it’s a sports film to boot. But we knew that there was enough of a curiosity element to pique the interest of the audience,” he says, admitting that he was still on tenterhooks on the day of its release. “Even if you only play a cameo in a film, it becomes a part of you and you get butterflies in your stomach on release day. Thankfully, meaningful Malayalam cinema, which engages you and enlightens you, always finds an audience,” he adds.
After Pa.Va , the actor has 10 Kalpanakal at the marquee, which he calls “a riveting movie.” He acts as a forest officer in the film by editor-turned-dircetor Don Max, in which he is paired opposite Meera Jasmine. “It’s a thriller, where the hero, Davis, goes out on a limb for his loved ones. I have not been this thrilled about a thriller since I worked on Cocktail and Traffic ,” says the actor. He’s playing Mohanlal’s friend (again) in director Jibu Jacob’s new untitled project and stars in the lead in Sarvopari Palakkaran , directed by Venugopan. Both films will go on the floors soon. Then there’s magnum opus Aami , Kamala Das’ biopic, starring Vidya Balan, to be directed by Kamal. “I’m very excited about Aami because it will be a definitive biography on the late author. It’s an ambitious project with several schedules and we’ll start filming my sequence by mid October,” he says, refusing to divulge more details about his character, other than saying it’s a “pivotal” one.
Meanwhile, scriptwriting has taken a back seat – well, somewhat. “I am comfortably ensconced in my position as an actor,” he says with a laugh. “Besides, there are too many people writing nowadays and I’m terrified seeing the volume.” Old habits die hard, though and the actor is presently working on two scripts – a comedy for Saji Surendran and Trivandrum Lodge 2 for V.K. Prakash. “Saji’s film is a rom-com centred on a destination wedding. The VKP film is not a sequel and is a dark tale of religion and drugs,” he adds.
