Like most people, Ashiq too loves watching horror movies. But little did he know that he would play the lead role in one of them. When Ashiq Ameer gave an audition for a movie, he never expected to be called to take on the male lead role in the recently released horror flick E. “It’s just been five days since the release and so far it’s a good feeling. I’ve been getting responses stating that the performance was fairly good,” says Ashiq, who plays the character of Karthik, who is a ‘wannabe’ filmmaker. Ashiq is completely new to the world of arc lights. “This is not just a debut, this is my first time in front of a camera,” he says. “I had auditioned for another movie and fortunately for me Kuku Surendran was on a hunt for an actor. He happened to watch the audition clips and then contacted me,” he adds.
Although acting was always on his mind, he decided to pursue something entirely different in life. “Yes, I felt acting is something I could do, back when I was in school. I used to take part in theatre performances. I also used to attend auditions while in college. But nothing worked out. I had taken up architecture for higher studies and was working as an architect, before I decided to seriously take a shot at acting,” he says.
“Being a complete fresher in the field, I was very tensed while facing the camera,” Ashiq says sharing his on-location experience “Whatever little comfort I had was due to the five-day workshop we had prior to the shooting. That helped a lot and there was a gang of newcomers,” he adds. Ashiq still feels the chills about his first on-screen experience. “That feeling, when you are facing camera for the first time, is quite unexplainable,” he says with a smile, adding, “I have definitely learnt a lot and there is an evident boost in confidence.”
The story revolves around the life of the character played by Gautami, who is the teacher of Ashiq’s character Karthik. Sounding excited about sharing the screen with veteran actor Gautami, Ashiq says, “We were not told who will be playing the lead character, they kept it a surprise. We were told Gautami would be playing the part just two days before the shoot and all the confidence that I had built up till then dropped,” he says with a laugh. “I was wondering how I would even stand in front of her. But then she was very considerate and made sure all of us felt comfortable while performing,” he says. After E, Ashiq completed another project and is currently staying back at his native home in Guruvayur.
