Actor Anil Murali has been like a bits and pieces cricketer who is very valuable but never allowed to have a lengthy spell or play a long innings. Yes, the band manager in Amen made heads turn but the recognition that seemed to be eluding him in his home turf seems to be coming from across the border.
His role as Diwakar, an effeminate Malayali settled in Chennai, in the film 'Six Candles' has come in for a lot of praise. The film didn’t set the cash registers ringing but was critically acclaimed and those who saw it liked the clean shaven villain in colourful shirts who walks and behaves in a feminine sort of way and talks in a mix of Malayalam and Tamil.
He was in for a pleasant surprise when on the sets of Samudrakani’s bilingual film 'Nimirnthu Nillu', Telugu actor 'Thalakkala Bharani' cut a cake in Anil’s honour with six candles on them. It wasn’t his birthday, just that the Telugu veteran happened to see the movie and liked Anil’s performance.
Interestingly, a clutch of offers have come Anil’s way from other languages after 'Six Candles'. “It’s true and one of them is a big budget film. But nothing is confirmed yet, so it’s too premature to talk about them,” says Anil, who hastens to add that he hasn’t moved away from Mollywood. “I’m doing Diphan’s 'Dolphin Bar', Padmakumar’s 'Polytechnic' and Rafi’s movie with Dileep.”
