Gaurav Menon’s take on his profession is a tad too mature, given that he is only 10. Then again he is a much-in-demand child actor so a certain degree of precociousness must come with the territory.
The list of films he has appeared in is enviable, the stuff of every child artiste’s parents’ dreams. Monkey Pen was his breakout film so to speak. It was as Jugru in the Jayasurya-starrer that the boy with a gap-toothed smile and cherubic face was noticed. A tooth has since filled the gap, but he remains endearing. “I had been attending auditions since I was in Class III. Monkey Pen happened when I was in Class IV and then everything changed,” he says. After the success of that film he is almost a staple in any film that has children. Happy Journey , Polytechnic , Alif , Homely Meals , White Boys , Oru Vadakkan Selfie , Nirnayakam , Kumbasaram , he rattles off the list.
He is on location of Vipin Atlee’s film Ben , at Mulavukad, in which he plays the lead, a 10-year-old boy at the receiving end of emotional trauma. His scene done, he is busy teaching others Uno. The acting dream is all his, his father Govindan Menon says. “In fact, I suggested that maybe this year on he could take fewer films and concentrate more on his studies. But he wants to keep working. He is a good student, his studies don’t suffer and several people in the industry told us that he shouldn’t quit.” In a place where memories are short, making a comeback later might not be smooth.
Nivin Pauly, Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya, Asif Ali, Aju Varghese…he has acted in films of these actors but he doesn’t have a favourite. Like a true film professional, he diplomatically skirts the question, “I like all of them. I haven’t met all of them but the ones I have met have been nice to me.”
Acting in film after film with, what appears to be, minus a break is no big deal for him.
His friends and teachers help him out with school work at St. Aloysius School, Palluruthy. Doesn’t he miss the life of regular kid? Gaurav hesitates before he answers, “No. I don’t. I get to act, do stuff that regular kids do not do. I like this. I don’t see it as a sacrifice.” As an afterthought he says he feels bad that his class got shuffled and now, in Class V, he has very few of his old friends. The advantage, of course, is having schoolmates recognise him and being popular. “That doesn’t fetch me any special treatment though!”
