Kattappanayile Ritwik Roshan was planned with another actor in mind but Nadir ikka (Nadirshah) felt the role suited me; that’s how I became the writer and actor in this film. I am quite surprised at how this year turned out for me. It is almost dreamlike. Of course, I did wish for something like this, but never expected such an outcome! I never imagined that 2016 would turn out to be such an important year in my life.
A lot of people like Jayasurya, Major Ravi, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Maniyan Pillai Raju and Asif Ali called and congratulated me for my performance when the movie was released. But the one phone call I will cherish all my life was from actor Vijayaraghavan. He is an actor I really love, admire and worship. He called me and told in his typical style — “You are an actor and even the minutest expression you gave was enjoyable.” It was ecstatic to hear that. Although plenty of people from the industry called, I choose this one my treasured moment because neither of us knew each other, yet he called me to appreciate the effort I put into my role as Kichu.
Right now, I have commitments as a scriptwriter and I am planning to sit down for it. Apart from that, a lot of acting opportunities are coming my way. The fun part is that many of those stories were scripted with someone else in mind and is now being offered to me. So I have decided that I will take up roles I am confident enough to pull off.
When it comes to tackling between writing and acting, I would say both are equally tough. But I cannot take sides; I find satisfaction in both as it gets me excited. I believe it is a matter of gradually getting used to tackling them.
Right advice
It was actor Nadirshah who advised Vishnu Unnikrishnan that he could act in the next film that he pens and let seniors take up the lead for Amar Akbar Antony. As advised, Vishnu stepped back then, only to become a much loved unconventional hero through Kattapanayile Ritwik Roshan
