On the comeback trail

Narain is back to where he belongs. The actor will be seen in a full-length role in Hallelooya

Malayalam film actor Narain

Where the Malayalam film industry is at now prompts Narain to wishful thinking. The kind of films being made and the courage to experiment coupled with the acceptance that these films meet; it is indeed a good time to be an actor in the Malayalam film industry, he finds. The last we saw the actor was in a guest role in Sibi Malayil’s Njangaludey Veettile Athithikal . He returns, in a full length role, with Hallelooya .

“This film is a very good one to make a ‘comeback’ with, after a gap. There is an inherent goodness in it,” says Narain who was in the city to promote the film. He fell for the movie as the writers, Abhimaan and Suni Raj, were narrating the script to him. “It touched my heart. It is a simple film with all the essentials of the commercial genre – drama, humour, emotion, elements of suspense and the works.” His co-stars in the film include Sunil Sugatha, Paashanam Shaji, Sudhir Karamana and others. It is while talking about this film he says it is a good time to be in Malayalam films. The ‘where were you all this while’ question is inevitable.

He explains, with his trademark charming and dimpled smile, how he was committed to the Tamil film

Kaththukutti . An important film for him, which was almost two years in the making from 2013 onward before it ran into trouble. He could have quit but chose to stay instead. The film, released last year, was received well but it taught him a lesson in looking after his career. Sibi Malayil had approached him for

Njangaludey… during

Kaththukutti , Narain explains his bearded, long haired look in the Malayalam film.

It was in the aftermath of

Kaththukutti that his resolve to focus on Malayalam films strengthened. “I realised there was no point in sitting around and waiting indefinitely for something to happen. I started hearing scripts back home and that’s when Hallelooya happened.”

This will be his first release this year. Whether he will return for good he cannot comment on. This year he has a couple of Tamil films; one of them, Rum, will be his first horror film.

He might have been away but he is tuned into all the latest releases and is full of praise for each of them, especially the actors and the technicians. As also the camaraderie of the Malayalam film industry. “Only in our industry would such two or multi-hero films be possible. The others are hero/image-driven, we can’t expect films such as ours to be made there.”

It was in the aftermath of the success of Mysskin’s Chithiram Pesuthadi (2006) that he moved to Chennai. His portrayal of Thiru got him many fans in the Tamil film industry.

It is no mean feat for a non-Tamil actor to get his own fan’s association, which Narain managed with his first film. And in that scenario it only made sense to move, focus more there. He did films in both industries simultaneously.

Recognition and solo hero projects came from Tamil, unlike the Malayalam films which were more of multi-hero projects. In Tamil he did well with film such as Anjaathe , Pallikkoodam , Nenju Irukkam Verai and Mugamoodi . “Logically any hero would do that, given it is the bigger industry.”

If before his move he had done a bunch of Malayalam films that include the hugely successful Classmates , Achuvinte Amma , 4 The People , Nizhalkuthu among others, he did some interesting work afterwards too. His Malayalam projects post-2006 include the critically acclaimed Veeraputhran , Ore Kadal , Panthaya Kozhi , Minnaminnikoottam , Ayalum Njaanum Thammil , 3 Dots , Robinhood and others.

He elaborates his decision to concentrate on films here, “The problem, in Tamil, was that I wasn’t going to the next level. Break into the next league. I could have come back then but I couldn’t give up.”

Narain is definitely on his comeback path, this year we will see him in more films, among them are Anganey Thanne Nethaave Anch-Ettennam Pinnale , then an Asif Ali film (produced by Asif Ali) Kavi Udeshichathu and another with Prithviraj. And we wish him the best on his second innings.