Four years ago, when his friend called him to do the role of a transgender in a Malayalam film, Santhosh took it up without hesitation. It was the first time he was actually facing a camera, but all his shots were okayed in the first take itself. “A lot of people in the unit were surprised and didn’t believe it when I told them that I was a newcomer,” he recalls.
That outing in KQ, the Malayalam film, gave him the encouragement to watch out for opportunities in tinseltown. Today, Santhosh plays the lead role in a Tamil film titled Manju , a horror thriller that has segments of family drama woven in. The film, which has been shot in Yercaud and Salem, features two heroines, Tanusree Ghosh and Khushi Rajput, and Jayaprakash in a vital role.
Santhosh plays the role of a dad of a 6-year-old, who is very protective of his family. “The director, O Ravishankar, has extensive experience as an editor and has been working on the script of Manju for a long while. He was determined to film it in a way different from how the recent spate of horror films in Tamil,” says a confident Santhosh.
An advertising and media professional whose heart lies in movies, he’s looking for roles with shades of grey. “My profile suits the profile of an angry young man and I’d love to take up villain roles that offer scope for performance,” says Santhosh, who looks up to actors like Irrfan Khan, Prakash Raj and Vijay Raaz for inspiration.
