Why Nivin Pauly wanted to play a ‘comrade’ in Sakhavu
He is Mollywood’s man with the Midas touch. His conversion of 50 days into 100 for any film at the box office is an envious track record to have. Despite his latest venture Sakhavu doing very well, Nivin Pauly isn’t basking in the glory and knows he has miles to travel. With political drama Sakhavu, however, the superstar has turned over a new leaf in his career. He has grown as an actor.
If Pauly’s previous films were testimony to the variety of age groups that he can portray with ease, this film, however, has set a new benchmark in his career. Pauly plays two different characters in three timelines – one as a college Communist leader, Krishna Kumar, and the other as Sakhavu Krishnan. His role as Krishnan sees him as a firebrand leader and also as a veteran, who is paralysed on one side. And playing the older character was very challenging for Pauly.
“Yes, this is my most challenging role till date. It was a tough character,” said Pauly, who was in Abu Dhabi over the weekend to promote Sakhavu.
Elaborating on the preparations for the role, Pauly said: “There’s a real life comrade in Kottayam named Krishnan, who suffered a stroke and is paralysed. I met him and got details about his struggle. There are many inspiring additions in the film from his life. He also used to come to shooting locations. I used to observe him and learned how a paralysed person goes around doing daily work. Director Sidhartha Siva also consulted a few doctors to know more about playing a paralysed character.”
Talking about his exceptional run at the box office, Pauly said the success rate is because of all films having a strong script.
“I always look for scripts which everyone can relate to and have a storyline with depth.”
A TOTAL PACKAGE
As to why he said ‘yes’ to director Sidhartha, Pauly said he always wanted to play a comrade. “I wanted to act as a Communist leader. And when Sidhartha Siva narrated such a script, I took up the mantle.”
Noting the points that he liked about the script, Pauly said: “A normal Communist film will see heavy focus on revolutionary ideology. However, this film shows the other side of a Communist leader. The movie is a journey through many layers of life – friends, family, work culture, and throws light on many shades of the character. The film travels through various ages of the character. It’s nearly impossible to reprise such a role of a Communist character because the script covered almost everything happening in his life. I found all essentials elements of a character coming together in this particular script.”
The film had a delayed release in the UAE, which the actor said was due to many films being taken by the distributors. “They will release only one film per week.”