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"I Am Happy With Whatever Work
I Get"
Murali,
the Malayalam actor who bagged the national film award for best actor
speaks to India Today's M.G. Radhakrishnan about his success. Excerpts
from an exclusive interview.
Murali,
47, this year's winner of the national film award for best
actor, is one of the most respected actors of Malayalam cinema.
Having started his career with theatre, he made a mark with his
performance in experimental plays produced by "Thiruvarang",
run
by Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. He entered films in the early 1980s and
has since won the state awards for best actor four times for his rugged
roles in Adhaaram (1992), Kanaakkinaav (1996), Thaalolam (1998) and Neythukaaran
(2001). A fellow-traveller of the CPI(M, he was the Left Democratic Front's
unsuccessful candidate in Alappuzha in the last Lok Sabha
elections. Excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Q: Tell
us about your award-winning role in Neyththukaran.
A: It is a role I will cherish all my life for many reasons. Appa
Mesthiri, the 85-year-old hero I play symbolises the strengths
and weaknesses of the Left movement of Kerala to which I am attached.
Just the names of the various characters in the film raise emotions in
me. The film is about the high values upheld by the movement and the anguish
over how things have changed with time. My challenge was to present the
body language of the old man who although weak and frail is as strong
as steel inside. The difference in the nature of the role was another
major factor
which attracted me.
Q: How
do you measure the success in your career in cinema?
A: I have always earned so much for a national award. Many times
in the past I had come up to the final round. I am not too keen to do
many roles or make too much money. My needs are limited and hence I am
happy with whatever work I get. Last year was particularly fruitful as
regards my other activities. Three of my books were published and I even
won an award for the best coloumnist! In theatre too, I could do a project
which is as of now the biggest in my acting career. Now the Central Sahitya
Akademi has invited me to do a memorial speech on a subject of my choice.
Q: You are much into Tamil cinema now.
A: Yes, that was another landmark last year. My first film Gemini
was a huge hit. I am now doing another Tamil film Jnaapangal
Thaalaattum which is being made by Kavithalaya, K. Balachandar's production
house.
Q: How do you see the Malayalam cinema industry now?
A: There is nothing much exciting or new happening here. Most of
the films have similar themes which haven't much to do with
reality. "I'm at a loss to understand why we have so many films
devoted to the mafia and underworld, criminal gangs and dacoits.
Q: How are your theatre activities going on?
A: The biggest project in my career happened last year. It was
an Ekaahaarya project where I do a one-and-a-half-hourlong solo
presentation of the celebrated play Lankalakshmi by the late C.N.
Srikantan Nair. The performance incorporates elements of the
martial art form, Kalarippayatt and classical arts like Kathakali,
Kutiyaattam etc. It was an exhausting experience physically and
artistically.
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