Kalidas Jayaram has big shoes to fill in his second innings in filmdom – that of his father, actor Jayaram and his mother, yesteryear actor Parvathy, not to mention his own National award-winning one! “What’s life without a bit of pressure? Bring it on. It’s nice; I actually thrive on it. As far as expectations go, I can’t do anything about it but I’m not scared of it. I’m just going to go with the flow,” says Kalidas, who does not seem the least perturbed in a free-wheeling chat over the phone.
The precocious child artiste, who wowed audiences and critics alike with his histrionic skills in Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal and Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum (for which he won the National Award for Best Child Artiste in 2003) is now a dapper, lean, handsome lad of 22 out to make his mark as a hero. Kalidas is finally back in Mollywood, in a starring role in Abrid Shine’s new film Poomaram , which went on the floors at Maharaja’s College in Kochi this week. “I’d been waiting for a good script to make my (re)entry into Malayalam cinema. By a good script I mean one that many people can relate to, nothing high-brow, something that’s very close to life. Poomaram is a very realistic film,” says Kalidas.
Poomaram is, apparently, an “all-out” campus film. “I studied in Chennai. So, I missed out on college life in Kerala and this is an opportunity for me to completely immerse myself in a reel one. Shine chettan , who I’ve known since my childhood days, was kind enough to take me around Maharaja’s. We had a camp of sorts prior to shooting and I got to spend some time with students of the college and learn about campus life. I was intrigued by campus agitations, which are non-existent in my college (Loyola), and particularly by the ‘samara maram,’ the centre-point of all campus agitations,” he says, adding that he is relishing being back in front of the camera.
“The industry itself hasn’t changed much from when I first stepped in front of the camera in Kochu... The style of filmmaking, though, has totally changed now that everything has gone digital. I’m liking how I can do multiple takes without worrying about wasting film reels. I actually feel blessed to be a part of films in this day and age when so many experiments are happening in terms of genres, scripts, narrative styles…” adds the soft-spoken youngster, sounding very much like his mother for a minute there.
Arguably, he also looks like his mom, especially in the Cadbury silk ad, with which he made his television debut, cementing him as a ‘chocolate hero’, to look out for.
On good authority we hear he’s very much like his father in his comedy skills and used to frequently perform on stage during his college days. The first inkling of it for the wider world was when Kalidas got on stage to spoof leading Tamil actors Surya, Ajith and Vijay, for an award show, the video of which went viral.
“My parents have always given me total freedom to do what I wanted to do and for that I am eternally grateful to them,” says Kalidas. “I have watched all my parents’ movies. Gosh! There are too many to count but I like their family movies like Sandesham of my dad’s and Vadakku Nokki Yantram of my mom’s the best,” adds the actor, who is equally well versed in Tamil and Malayalam.
In fact, he has already completed two films in Tamil - Oru Pakkai Katha , directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan (of cult comedy Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom fame) and Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum , another comedy in which he plays Prabhu’s son. Meen Kuzhambum will be out later this month, while Pakkai Katha is facing some “unfortunate” delays. “For an actor, language should never be a barrier. For Tamil audiences I am a rank newcomer. Malayalis, on the other hand, have seen me grow up. The only disadvantage I feel is that in Mollywood people still think of me as a little kid. I have to work on breaking that image. That said I don’t want to do movies for the sake of it. I’m not in a hurry and am in there for the long run,” says Kalidas.
