‘I don’t do any homework for my characters’: ‘Pappachan Olivilanu’ actor Saiju Kurup

‘Jai Mahendran’ will debut on the OTT platform Sony LIV on October 11, 2024.

Mumbai: Malayalam actor Saiju Kurup, best known for his commendable films like ‘Malikappuram’, ‘Janamaithri’ and many others, shared about his upcoming web series debut ‘Jai Mahendran’.

In a conversation with IANS, Saiju opened up about his character in the upcoming series, the genres to explore in the web series and more.

You have always been a part of feature films and now you are debuting as a part of a web series. Did you feel any difference between the two mediums or was it the same for you?

Saiju said, “No, as actors, we don’t find any difference because I’ve done short films, I’ve done movies, I’ve worked on two episodes of a TV serial. So, as actors, we don’t really care because for us, it’s all the same. The only difference is that the budget is very small, if it’s a movie, it’ll be more budget, if it’s a web series, it’ll be more budget like for a short film, it’ll be a shoestring budget. So, in this shoestring budget, we won’t be able to hire big cameras.”

“But if it’s a web series or a movie, we can hire the latest updated version of big cameras. So, it’s all for the technicians but for us, we’re just acting, we’re just acting in short films and here as well. So, for us, it’s all the same. But the good thing is that the web series is more wide because the budget is good and we get 3 to 3.5 hours of content. We can tell the story in such a short time,” he added.

Did you face any challenges while playing the character of Mahendran?

Saiju said, “Yeah, because I don’t do any homework for my characters. So, I never thought of doing homework and I don’t have that much time to do homework because I do back-to-back shoots. So, I did a shoot for a movie and two days later, I went to ‘Jai Mahendran’s location and I started acting there. But I’m a director and a writer’s actor.”

“So, I’ll do whatever he asks me to do. Okay, so if you take ‘Jai Mahendran’s script, there’s a lot of detail in the script like, what’s his mood in a particular scene? What was his previous scene like? So, if a guy comes up to me and says something, how will he react, or if it’s my dialogue, how will I render it? So, they guide us, that makes an actor’s life very easy. I don’t know if it’s the same for everyone but for me, my life was easy when the writers and directors tell me and what I do is, I don’t tell anyone how to do it, I observe them.”

“Whether it’s a director or a writer, when they explain the scene, at that time, I observe them. What’s their body language? How do I deliver the dialogue? Otherwise, what happens is, if I start doing characters in every movie, then you’ll see Saiju Kurup in every movie. So, how do I make Mahendran different?”

“So, I wanted to make Mahendran different, like, if a writer is available at the location, he can come and explain the scene. So, he explained it to me or if the director told me to explain the scene, then he explained it to me. So, out of that, I get a lot of things that are non-Saiju Kurup things. If I did it myself, then I wouldn’t have included it. So, that’s how I do it. So, for ‘Jai Mahendran’ and all the other movies I’ve done, I did it very open-mindedly, without doing any work. Like, I went to the location, and to go to the location, you have to work but I didn’t do any homework,” he said.

What was one thing that you had to unlearn for the web?

Saiju said, “There’s nothing like unlearning because, whatever I’ve learned, it’s all good. So, if I had learned something bad, then I would have had to unlearn it. But whatever I’ve learned, whether I’ve tried to learn it or I’ve learned it unknowingly, that were all very good things and that would improve my career and improve my acting skills that I’ve learned all this over the years. So, I haven’t unlearned anything.”

How was your working experience with Suhasini Maniratnam?

Saiju said, “It was a lot of excitement, as soon as the producer called me and told me that I’ve spoken to Suhasini Chechi, we call our sister Chechi that’s why I’m calling her Chechi. So, as soon as Suhasini Chechi got in, I was very excited because, in the late 80s, I started watching movies, at the same time, I started watching TV. So, at that time, one of the top heroines was Suhasini Chechi in Malayalam and Tamil. So, when I used to watch Malayalam movies, I used to feel like she’s my sister or my mother.”

“I used to feel like that. So, we grew up watching her movies, so, when I got to know that I’m going to share a screen space with her, I was very excited, so, it was a very good experience. She’s a very sober and a very good sister… she was also very supportive and yeah, she also did a good job,” he said.

Apart from all the films that you have done, which is the one that has stayed with you till this long and why?

Saiju said, “That was my first movie’s character, in the first half, I was in a negative shade as I was playing the hero in that movie. In the second half, I was playing ‘Mayookham’ which means Surya Kiran that’s what it means. In Sanskrit, it’s Surya Kiran so, in the second half, I was playing a positive character. I feel like to find such a character in real life and because he’s very close to my heart because it was my debut movie, so, he’s close to my heart.”

“So, the experiences of that movie when I was learning the acting of the movie or about the location, I was learning about the filmmaking, the track, the jimmy jib, the crane, I was learning all that. So, you won’t get that experience because it’s over for the first time. So, that’s why I feel that character is very close to my heart,” he said.

What types of roles or genres are you planning to explore on the web?

“I want to try every genre because right now, in the Malayalam industry, I don’t have a particular image that this person is good for comedy or action or serious role. I don’t have that image. So, the filmmakers and writers are fitting me in different types of genres. So, by God’s grace, this is happening.”

Can you share something about your upcoming film ‘Anand Sreebala’?

Saiju said, “Yes, I can tell you about that. There is a great filmmaker, Vinayan sir, his son, Vishnu Vinay, is directing the film. I had a movie released 1.5 years ago by ‘Malikappuram’, which was a huge blockbuster. The writer, Abhilash Pillai, is also a writer of this movie, I am playing a DYSP character, Deputy Superintendent of Police.”

“The protagonist is being played by an actor called Arjun Ashokan. It is a crime thriller, and you know that if you say anything about a crime thriller, the suspense goes away so, I won’t comment on it. It is going to be released very soon, the movie has been made very well, we are also keeping our fingers crossed. Let’s see.”

What made you say yes, to the show, ‘Jai Mahendran’?

He said, “First of all, the attraction was Sony LIV, because, I think, all the Malayalees who have the platform, everyone follow it, in Kerala, it is very popular, in South India, it is everywhere and since we are talking about the Malayalam web series it is everywhere but, if there is any content on the Sony LIV, it will be good… there is an atmosphere like this. So, there is a movie called ‘Antakshari’, if you haven’t seen it, do watch it. It is a crime investigation thriller, it is a very good movie… there is a policeman who likes to play ‘Antakshari’ so, that is how the movie goes. Keeping aside this, Sony LIV is the first web series and It is a big deal to act in Sony LIV’s web series.”

“We are acting in the particular platform’s first web series which is a big deal. Rahul Rijin Nair, the writer of the web series, and Srikanth Mohan. Rahul Rijin Nair is already a national and state award-winning director and, his first AD is Srikanth Mohan. So, these two people are coming for this web series. I have already done a movie with them. I think it was in 2017 or 2018 so, I have already done it.”

“I have a lot of trust in that team and, the plot of this movie, the plot of ‘Jai Mahendran’, the plot in one line, they had already told me about it, then comes the big exciting news that Sony LIV is going to stream this. Wow! 75 per cent of people were convinced and, this team, I already know them. I have worked with them. I have seen their other movies and, there was no reason that I didn’t tell them. There was no reason to reject them,” Saiju said.

What kind of content do you like to watch in your free time?

Saiju said, “Basically, I don’t have a particular genre that I will watch a thriller movie of this genre in my free time. But, I watch an entertaining movie, like we can give entertainment to the audience in different emotions. We can make them laugh, we can scare them. You make a thriller movie and they will get a thrill and they will come to the edge of their seat, you can entertain them like this. You can entertain them by making them cry so, any emotion ultimately, we want to get entertainment. Now, I don’t know how many times I have seen ‘Andaz Apna Apna’, I like such movies.”

“Now, I like movies like ‘Baazigar’ or ‘Darr’, now, I have seen ‘Mirzapur’, I have seen it many times. So, there is no particular genre but, if we get entertainment, then it’s okay. Now, I have seen ‘Animal’, I liked it a lot. Although, there is a lot of violence in it but, it’s a movie, watch it as a movie. Why are you taking it to heart? It’s a movie, it’s made for your entertainment, watch it and get entertained otherwise, you shouldn’t have done this or that. So, it doesn’t matter,” Saiju concluded.

‘Jai Mahendran’ will debut on the OTT platform Sony LIV on October 11, 2024. The show stars Saiju Kurup, Miya George, Suhasini Maniratnam, Rahul Riji Nair, Sidhartha Siva, Suresh Krishna and Maniyanpilla Raju in pivotal roles.

The series has been produced by First Print Studios and directed by Srikanth Mohan.