7/31/2019 First Take Issue 45

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FIRST TAKE>Jyothi Varma

Close your eyes and think Thilakan, andsome of the finest performances inmodern Malayalam cinema will flood

your mindthe endearing mannerisms of theMuthacchan in MoonamPakkam, the maths-obsessed Chacko Master who goes to extremelengths to thought-control his son in Sphadi-kam, the detestable stepfather of Sophia inNamukkuParkkanMunthiriThoppukal and theloving father in Sandesham.

The versatile Thilakan is in prime form evenin the new release Indian Rupee, a comebackrole of sorts for the veteran artiste who wasquite excited about the audience response to

the role and the film when he spoke to FirstTake.

Like many of the senior actors, Thilakan toohas his roots in drama. But it was a pleasantsurprise for me when he repeated some ofthe dialogues from his old plays. Ask him howtheatre artists in those days felt about cinemawhich was a new and exotic medium,he says: During those days a herohad to be handsome or beautiful. Thiswas broken when Sathyan made itbig in films. It was then that actorslike me got the confidence of get-

ting artistic space in cinema. Backin those days, an artist had to be aBhagavathar too as the yardstick foran actor was not just histrionics buthis singing skills.

On the difference between stageand screen, Thilakan said the ap-proach to the two media was funda-mentally different. The theatre artistwill have to shout out his dialogues and thereis no scope for speech modulation. When youact in a play, only the first few rows can seeyour face clearly whereas the zooming lens incinema can focus on every wrinkle, he said.

Thilakan has been with the film industry forabout 55 years now. He was reluctant to switchto cinema as he by then had built a strong at-tachment to his co-artists, but did so when PJAntony persuaded him, with one sagely advicethoughDo not act in cinema. Just behave asin real life.

He was chosen for a role in KG Georges Ulk-kadal and after his performance in Yavanikawhen it was staged as a play, it caught thedirectors eye. And, when the director under-took a screen adaptation of the play, Thilakanbecame a natural choice.

Thilakan was a runaway having fled home atthe age of 19. He does not feel that what hedid was right, but, on the positive side thinksthat the consequence was that he learnt a lot ofthings in life the hard way. He even served thearmy briefly before discovering his passion andforteacting.

My audiences are my teachers. When Ismiled you laughed and gave your heart to me.When people started liking me and my perfor-mance, my responsibility also increased mani-fold. I even tend to forget my illness when Iface the camera, the 76-year old veteran said.

I was curious as to how he lives a charac-

ter. He had the perfect answer. I come acrosslot of people. A good artist will knowingly andunknowingly imbibe certain characteristics fromothers. When you get an apt role, those man-nerisms will be used. There are times when youact with your mind too! The character mightneed that kind of subtle detailing. Only when

you get thrilled seeing my perfor-mance do I feel thrilled.

He has given life to a wide rangeof characters and feels that norole has ever daunted him. Onplaying a drunkard, which has

become a sort of stepping stoneto showcase skills, Thilakan saysthat it is a heavy role compared tosome others.

Unlike stage plays, in films,the order of shooting scenes isnot linear. For instance, in mysecond movie Kolangalin which Iplayed a drunkard KalluVarkey, it

was sometimes Scene 10 before Scene 6. So Iwould ask the director how many bottles thischaracter has downed before each scene. Thespeech of a drunkard should not have claritybut the crucial words should not get slurred

over. To get more effect in that case what I didwas: for example when it came to the wordSammathamano? I would stammer Sa..Sa...Sa...Sammathamano.

Thilakans upcoming movies are Simhasan-am, Spirit and Ustad Hotel.

Though he himself is from another genera-tion, Thilakan has some useful advice for theyouth: Consider life as an ocean. Do notremain rooted on the beach sands fearful of abig wave. Only those who take the plunge cancome out with the pearls.

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TEENTIMECHIPS@

GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF

2012 APRIL 25 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 45

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