I thought ‘Kee’ would make me Dhanush or Vijay Sethupathi’s villain: Govind Padmasoorya

The actor, who played the antagonist in the Jiiva-starrer ‘Kee’, reveals that the film was tampered with, but has nevertheless made him recognisable

Actor Govind Padmasoorya

Govind Padmasoorya (aka GP) seems upbeat for someone who cannot hide his disappointment at the reviews his début Tamil film Kee had received.

After all, Padmasoorya spent the better part of the last three years betting heavily on the character of Shiva (the antagonist in Jiiva’s film), which, by his own admission, he’d hoped would help elevate him to playing a villain opposite Dhanush or Vijay Sethupathi next.

“I don’t regret doing

Kee ,” says GP, adding that it has helped him earn recognition among a new set of fans.

“The other day I was at Express Avenue, and a few college students walked up to me, and asked to click photos. They were asking me my name. It is nice to introduce myself to a new crowd,” he adds.

Padmasoorya needs no introduction to the Malayalam audience, especially the TV watching public. He shot to fame as an anchor hosting a dance reality show, and boasts of a fan following which, he says, predominantly consists of “

ammamaar ,

ammoommamaar and

kochu kuttigal ” (mothers, grand moms and little kids).

“These were the audience who made the trip to watch Kee on the first day in theatres in Kerala. I was thinking... should I be happy or feel sorry for them? Because I hadn’t done a film in so many years, but they have remained loyal.”

A tough journey

Which begs the question, why then did he agree to do Kee if he already knew that it wasn’t up to the mark?

“I never saw the final cut before it released. The feedback I had received from sneak peek and trailers was great, but when I watched the movie, I realised that what I had in my mind and what the film turned out to be was totally different,” he says, adding that Kee ’s difficulties extended beyond its finances.

“There were many distributors who watched the film and became the editors of it. I’m not sure as to what exactly happened, but it was tampered with very badly. It isn’t the film that was conceived in the first draft,” he says.

The actor, however, throws his weight behind the film’s director, Kalees.

“He wasn’t able to bring out what he desired. For all that is said and done, Kalees actually completed the film on a very minimal budget. So, if it even runs for a week, then everyone is safe, and it wouldn’t be because it netted huge collections,” he adds.

His performance has not gone unnoticed, though. “I’m being approached for lead roles in Tamil, but I don’t want to make a hasty decision,” he says.

The breakthrough

A decade ago, the actor, who hails from Pattambi in Palakkad district, had a dream début when his Adayalangal — a biopic of Malayalam littérateur Nandanar — won five Kerala State Film Awards.

But he decided to pursue academics at a time when he was being considered for roles by top Malayalam filmmakers. By the time he returned, he had no offers, and that was tough to take for someone who confesses that he’d always wanted the limelight since he was a kid.

“I had to reintroduce myself. A new wave of films were happening in Malayalam. There was Asif Ali, Nivin Pauly and Fahadh Faasil. I had no wave coming my way,” he adds.

It was when the smaller films he’d taken up ended tanking at the box office that the chance to host the reality show came his way. There has been no looking back ever since.

While his popularity among the female audience remains high, at 31, GP says he’s never been in a serious relationship. Ask him why, and he says, “Because I think I have a fear of commitment.”

His fans ensure that he never feels less loved. “I have never had to crave [for love]. Even in college I was always popular with girls. Right now, there are things that keep me distracted and so, a relationship or even marriage... I’ve yet to go into that zone,” he signs off.