Gaps are found as recurring throughout his career, even from its beginning, irrespective of the languages he chooses to act. Even after being part of hit films, he ‘struggles’ to keep that momentum just because of these unexpected gaps.
Narain, who had a dream debut through Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Nizhalkuthu, when he was assisting award-winning cinematographer Rajiv Menon, was then found scaling new heights in both Malayalam and Tamil.
According to the actor, the gaps happen naturally, not as per his discretion. “From the beginning of my career itself, there were gaps. The first gap occurred after my debut itself. Nizhalkuthu came to me in 2002 when I was assisting Rajiv sir. After that film, I joined back with Rajiv sir’s crew and continued as assistant cinematographer.”
“It was in 2004 that I acted in 4 The People, following which I completely shifted my focus to acting. But all the gaps that followed occurred when I got busy with Tamil films, after my Tamil debut in 2006 through Mysshkin’s Chithiram Pesuthadi,” Narain says.
Though he was planning to fix his focus on one industry, owing to his commitments, he could not do that.
“The intervals are not just because of lack of good offers. Chithiram Pesuthadi came to me when I just completed the shoot of Sathyan Anthikad sir’s Achuvinte Amma. I was hesitant to commit to it as I was sure that I will get good offers after the release of Achuvinte Amma. But after I heard the script, I had to change my decision,” he says.
So, why was there the gap? “I spent around nine months for that movie, which made a gap in Malayalam, but it gave me a good opening in Tamil industry. The major share of the Tamil projects I committed took months to complete. Naturally I rejected many other projects, which became blockbusters. I decided to focus on any one industry, but the tempting roles which came to me, forced me to rethink,” says the actor, who is coming back to Malayalam after a brief sabbatical.
Narain, who appeared in a cameo role in Jayaram-Priyamani-starrer Njangalude Veettile Athidhikal is playing the lead in debutant Sudhi Anna’s Hallelooya.
“For the last two years, I had to dedicate my whole time for the shoot of my Tamil film Kaththukkutti, in which I am appearing as a hero with a different getup. So to ‘preserve’ that look, I had to deny many Tamil and Malayalam offers. Just after Kaththukkutti was wrapped up, I got a call from Abhiman, the scriptwriter of Hallelooya,” says Narain, who is overwhelmed with good response about Kaththukkutti, which got released last week.
“When I sat for discussion with Abhiman, my only knowledge about him was he is a producer, who had produced a super-hit Malayalam-Tamil bilingual film. So I thought he came to discuss about his next production, for which he is planning to cast me. Without much introduction, he started narrating the script. I got astonished as that was my first experience with a producer narrating a script in such an excellent manner. It was after completing the narration that he said it was the script which he wrote along with his friend Suniraj,” says the actor, adding that it was the script that attracted him to the project.
Narain, who is now all set to make his debut in Telugu with a yet-to-be-titled bilingual project, which also speaks Tamil, has a dream — to act in his guru Rajiv’s film. “Though I have assisted him in many commercials and other projects, till date, I could not be part of his film. Even though he used to scold us, we weren’t offended because he loves his assistants,” the actor sums up.
