Joju’s joy ride

Joju George on coming up trumps as an actor and producer

Joju George

‘Sherikkum, Charlie oru sambavatta….nammal thakarthu’ (Charlie is truly phenomenal…we rock). Joju George posted this on his Facebook page after watching

Charlie in theatres. As one of the producers of the movie, he had already seen the movie several times. “I was very happy when I saw it first, but Martin [Martin Prakkat, director of the movie] was not. So the movie had to go through several cuts and trimming sessions before it reached the theatres. By the time it touched base, I was confused about how the final product would be. So when I watched in the theatre, I was floored,” says Joju, not hiding his happiness over his debut production venture raking in the moolah at the box office.

The new year has definitely begun on a good note for the actor teamed up with Martin Prakkat and Shebin Backer (who produced Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum and co-produced Mulla ) to produce Charlie , under the banner Finding Cinema.

“Martin is a close friend and when the project came up I decided to chip in. Not because I have a lot of money. But now that the movie is doing well, people have started asking for money!” says Joju who has found a place in Mollywood as a character artiste.

Joju had started his career as a junior artiste, in the movie

Mazhavilkkoodaram . “I come from a family with no connection with film industry, where going for a movie was the ultimate celebration. All I wanted was to become an actor. So I travelled across the state with my photographs to meet directors. It is no exaggeration that I know the houses of almost all the leading directors! The struggle finally paid off. From being a junior artiste I got my first dialogue in

Dada Sahib . A role that got me noticed was in

Pattalam .

Best Actor gave me the confidence as an actor and

Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum changed my career for the better,” says Joju.

Comedy has been Joju’s forte. “I was the entertainer of my group of friends in college. I banked on that in my films as well. It was Anoop Menon who gave me the confidence and I got such roles in which I could handle comedy, especially in the films he wrote such as Beautiful, Trivandrum Lodge and Hotel California . Once I started doing comedy, I felt free as an actor. The roles in Neram, Rajadhi Raja and Lukka Chuppi got me a lot of appreciation,” says Joju, who will next be seen in Abrid Shine’s Action Hero Biju . “Abrid and Martin are two people who have moulded me as an actor,” Joju adds.

Meanwhile, Finding Cinema is already thinking about its new project and Joju is hoping for a Kollywood debut later this year.

Any dream roles? “My dream itself is to get more roles!” says Joju.