Slow & steady to stardom

Gokul Suresh was one of the star kids of Malayalam cinema who made a silent debut. His first film, Mudhugauv, released in 2016, performed well in the box-office and it was followed by a cameo role in Ajai Vasudev’s Masterpiece.

Then came Ira last year, in which he donned the role of a doctor. And it looks like a pattern now: a slow but steady movement towards stardom. He has started 2019 on a high note with a highly appreciated performance as Francis in Irupathiyonnam Noottandu.  

The viewers were in unison praising his screen presence as Francis. “I’m very happy to be a part of this special movie. The response has been good and that really doubles up the happiness,”  says Gokul. “Arun Gopy sir called me and said that it’s a cameo role and explained about it. The character enters at a very crucial pint of the movie. He wasn’t sure whether I’ll be willing to take up the role. But I’m an artiste who believes in doing good characters, irrespective of its extent in the movie. I found the character very matured and powerful and doing it was a way of discovering me as the character is more than my actual age.”
Gokul has completed shooting for Madhav Ramadasan’s Ilayaraja, which has Ajayakumar in the lead. He dons the role of Bryan in the movie, which he assures is a very positive character. He asserts that he was so happy to be a part of Madhav’s movie.    

“He’s a director who treats his movies differently. Melvilasom and Apothecary are two of my favourite movies. Though Melvilasom is shot in a single location, the audience gets an insight of all the mentioned location through the narration. He’s a director who moulds an actor well. It’s a character I loved doing.”

He will also be seen as the lad in Anil Rraj’s Soothrakkaran. “I play the character of Madathil Aravindan in the movie. It’s a very outspoken and energetic character. Rest you should see on theatres,” he quips.

The movie will be a colourful entertainer with a thriller mood to it, insists Gokul. He has high hopes on Arun Chandu’s Sayanna Varthakal, in which he plays the lead character of Ravi Kumar along with Dhyan Sreenivasan. His looks in the movie have already been a hit on social media. “Soothrakkaran will be a movie that the normal audience will enjoy. But Sayanna Varthakal comes under the so-called ‘new generation’ movies. It’s actually a political satire and I play the role of a central government employee in it. I had really a good time shooting for the movie as I’ve a good vibe with Dhyan chettan and Aju chettan, whom I know from Mudhugauv days. And it was an opportunity to learn from senior actors like them. The interesting part is that I used to see Sreeni sir and Vineeth ettan In Dhyan chettan’s performance,” he says.

He’s currently shooting for Suresh Poduval’s Ulta, which he affirms as a great entertainer and has a good technical team to back. Gokul, son of actor-turned Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopy, is an actor who doesn’t have the pressure of being a star kid. And he’s not particular of doing ‘lead’ roles. “I did not come with that baggage and no one can force it on me. Like many, I had a normal entry into the movies and I’ve struggled to reach here, in spite of being an actor’s son. I never expected to be an actor. It happened accidentally and I continue as an actor as offers come by. I will be doing some other job if they don’t. I’ve studied business administration and will be doing a job related to that or maybe I’ll enter into agriculture.” Many of the actors have shown interest in agriculture and Gokul also loves to do it someday after having a proper research. “Our climate is changing drastically due to deforestation. I was really scared by the way climate changed in Bengaluru when I was studying there. The planet needs to be there for our future generations. Of course, agriculture will give more oxygen to the environment and we will have fresh food to eat.”

Gokul loves to be a part of many senior directors’ movies. He is a fan of the style of Amal Neerad and Anwar Rasheed in filmmaking and hopes to work in their movies one day.  “I need to have path-breaking projects to get their attention,” says Gokul. “Prithviraj, who I admire a lot as a performer, has done outstanding movies like Thalappavu, but he needed Puthiya Mugham to establish his stardom.” He would not dismiss the grapevine that there is a move to underrate him. “The people who brought me into Ilayaraja are not interested in casting me in another big project. I don’t why that happens. Anyways I’m not a person who goes behind asking for chances. By god’s grace everything will come to me,” he wraps up.