Richy liked automobiles and Richy liked designing. He thought a course in automobile engineering would bring him close to both fields. A year later, he realised that did not happen.
So, Richy Geo Thomas hopped off and changed course. He went to a fashion designing school in Bangalore and earned himself a degree. But even before all that, he became a model. From his schooldays he played volleyball, and after school he went regularly to the gym.
He had developed the physique of a model who could walk the ramps of Bangalore. Or, do the occasional ad when he came to Kerala. But deep down, he dreamt of becoming an actor. His uncle Alexander Mathew, who was a producer of movies like Oru Maravathoor Kanavu, took Richy along to meet director Lal Jose. A few days later, Richy became Karthik, a creative director in Vijay Babu’s ad company and Deepti Sati’s pretend boyfriend in Nee-Na.
“I actually got an offer to do the costume design, but I was reluctant. I wanted to assist someone first before taking up an independent project. Then, he (Lal Jose) asked what I was interested in and I said to act,” Richy says. Even then he had no idea the role would be this big. He did his first couple of shots easily, but by then someone had given him tips and advice and the third shot saw him a nervous wreck.
“There is that office scene where Neena smokes during a meeting, and there is a close shot of me. I was sitting there so tense. They had some seven or eight retakes.” But in the end, it all worked well. Support came from Anoopettan, the associate director and Sathyan Anthikad’s son, and Jomon chettan, the cinematographer. And now, Vijay Babu’s and Sandra’s Friday Films are in talks with him about another film. But, as he settles into his acting career, Richy had not forgotten his dreams of fashion designing. He has just completed costumes for a wedding reception and is in the process of bringing out a brand of his own, that he’d call ‘Geo T’.
