Was a tightrope walk’
Sajin Gopu is basking in the rave reviews for his character in the Fahadh Faasil-blockbuster Aavesham
ahadh Faasil-starrer gangster comedy Aavesham, directed by Jithu Madhavan, is Fahadh’s show. The actor has gone all out as the lovable, caricature don, Ranga. Another actor who has come in for equal measure of praise is Sajin Gopu, who plays Ranga’s trusted aide, the goofy Ambaan.
“I have already seen the lm six times in theatres,” says Sajin with a guaw over the telephone. The actor, who had impressed viewers with his roles in Churuli, Jan.E.Man and Romancham, adds, “I rarely watch my lms repeatedly. But there is a magic in Aavesham, perhaps because of the barrage of events in the narrative.”
Aavesham is set in Bengaluru around the lives of three
Fengineering students — Bibi, Aju and Shanthan, who are on the lookout for a local goonda to take revenge on their seniors who ragged them. Their search ends with Ranga, who walks around in an all-white attire, ashing his gold chains and rings, with his gang. The mighty Ambaan is the one who leads the pack in all the ghts. At the same time Ambaan leaves the audience in splits when he narrates stories of Ranga’s past, based on hearsay.
“Jithu had designed the look along the lines of Vikraman (of the iconic Vikraman-Muthu duo, a pair of thieves in Mayavi ,a Malayalam comic strip series published in a children’s publication), especially the T-shirt, hair, sideburns, moustache and overall appearance. It was surprising that many in the audience could identify that resemblance,” Sajin says.
Becoming Ambaan involved putting on weight and training for the action sequences. “Jithu’s brief was that I should look like a bulked-up goonda with a pot-belly and all. For the ght scenes, I underwent a week’s training,” he says.
Sajin enjoyed the freedom that Jithu gave him to play the character. “Except for a few scenes, he let me do my own thing as Ambaan. However, the role was a tightrope walk. If I had gone overboard with the comedy, the audience would have panned me. Both Ranga and Ambaan are eccentric, over-the-top characters. But Jithu told us that if Ranga is loud in a scene, Ambaan is subdued, and vice versa. That’s how he balanced their energy,” Sajin explains.
Fahadh magic
The actor admits that it was not easy to share the screen with Fahadh, one of the nest actors in the country. “The entire crew was excited to see him perform. We discussed our scenes before going for the shot. The problem arose when he improvised and I had to match up to that. Initially it was not easy because I have never been in such a situation in my career,” he says.
Sajin, a native of Aluva near Kochi, recollects that it was after graduation that he started developing an interest in acting. He eventually got small roles in lms such as Thilothama, Mumbai Taxi and Marubhoomiyile Aana. “None of the lms reached the audience and so I was not noticed. I decided to take a break. However, thanks to my friends, I got roles in Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli and Chidambaram’s Jan.E.Man, which released on the same day in 2021,” he says. Later, director-producer John Paul George called him to play the character Niroop in Jithu’s directorial debut, the horror comedy, Romancham (2023).
“After these lms did well, I started getting oers to play comic, rough-and-tough characters. I didn’t take them up. When I was oered Aavesham, I had no second thoughts even though the character was also of the same template.” It would have been a huge loss if I had let it go.”
In between he could not take up “a few serious roles like the one in Bramayugam due to a clash in dates. However, I am playing an intense character in my next project, which stars Basil Joseph.”
A huge fan of yesteryear Malayalam actor Murali, Sajin adds that he loves to play the kind of characters played by Vinayakan and Tamil actor SJ Suryah.
I rarely watch my lms repeatedly. But there is a magic in Aavesham, perhaps because of the barrage of events in the narrative