Five years old in the film industry, Tovino Thomas seems untouched by its hangups. He lacks the trappings of being a star that seem to be a must-have these days. He chooses to be himself, in fact he asserts his right to be himself. “I want to be true to myself, to who I am. I cannot fake and pretend to be somebody I am not. These five years have taught me a lot about people. I haven’t changed, nor do I intend to, and neither have the people around me. This is how I will be,” he says.
For a rank outsider the journey to lead actor is tough and the struggle very real and hard. It was for him too, “I have had my share of rejections, some intense, but all those were a path for me, to reach where I have to,” he philosophises.
“The turning point for me was Ennu Ninte Moideen . It got me a lot of attention.” Every film, whether it was released or not, irrespective of how it fared at the box office, is special to him. Each a part of the larger picture, stepping stones to where he wants to be, “every film that I have worked on is important to me, one paved the way for the next — Koothara led to 7th Day which led to Ennu Ninte Moideen and so on. Each film did something for me.” He made his feature film debut with ABCD , in 2013, having done a couple of short films before. His earlier films include You Too Brutus , August Club , Ennu Ninte Moideen , Charlie , and Monsoon Mangoes among others.
His next release , scheduled for May 19, is Basil Joseph’s wrestling-themed Godha . The trailers have generated quite the buzz and curiosity. Videos of the making of the film, uploaded on Facebook, show him preparing for the film, reminiscent of Aamir Khan’s preparation for Dangal . Basil Joseph is all praise for Tovino for the effort he put in for the film. It took him around three months of work—working out and building a wrestler’s physique—and learning gatta gushti under Minnal George. “I wasn’t in the best physical shape when Basil told me,” Tovino says.
It was around the time he was working on Guppy . This kind of preparation is not usual, years ago Nivin Pauly shed weight for Thattathin Marayathu . Tovino states that the preparation was no big deal, had he more time he would have put in more effort. “It is part of doing my job well.”
Constantly experimenting with his look, and characters, vis-a-vis his latest films - for Guppy’s Thejus Varkey he went boho, for Oru Mexican Aparatha’s Paul and Kochaniyan there was more than generation divide to interpret and Ezra’s ACP Shameer Ahamed he conveyed every bit the severity of a cop, and now with Godha , his attempt has been also to keep his roles diverse. “As an actor, if I have to be true to what I do then I have to try a range of characters. And I don’t want to do similar roles, and I can’t create the diversity out of zero. I enjoy the process of creating/becoming these characters.”
The acting bug bit the actor from Irinjalakuda when he was quite young. “That is not the kind of thing you tell people, they’d think you are mad. It is embarrassing telling people you aspired to be an actor. Especially if you are not from a film background.” Films were a passion born out of watching films as a kid. His parents used to hire video cassettes of films over weekends, “my brother and I would watch the film, again and again and again till the cassette was returned on the following Monday.”
A trip to a shooting location opened his eyes to how a film is made, “That is when I realised this is how a film gets made. I was drawn to it. I voraciously read film magazines too.” But it was a while before the software engineer took the plunge. “I first told my brother, cousins and my girlfriend, who is now my wife. When I told my parents, they had the usual concerns which parents in their situation would have. But when they saw how I serious I was, they completely backed me.” It didn’t help that he didn’t show any interest in the ‘arts’ as a youngster.
Coming back to Godha , he is excited about the film. “It is not an everyday film. We are not making tall claims, but we believe, and hope, that it will be received well. I am confident after seeing its preview.”
His kitty is full to keep him busy for the next couple of years, post- Godha his next release is the tentatively-titled Tarangam , directed by Arun Dominic and he begins filming Ashiq Abu’s new film on May 20. Looks like the time of Tovino has begun.
Social media and him
In this time of social media, he chooses to keep his relationship with it strictly professional. “I will use it to promote my films and such, but I don’t intend to spend too much time on it. The amount of negativity that is out there on it is shocking. After a point all the negativity gets to me. I’d rather spend the time I have with my family than scrolling down social media sites.”
