'Drishyam' starring Mohanlal is hailed as one of the biggest blockbusters of Malayalam cinema. The movie directed by Jeethu Joseph was remade into many languages including Tamil and Hindi. It was veteran actor Kamal Haasan who played the lead role in the Tamil version of the movie. However, the filmmaker has revealed that he had intended to cast superstar Rajinikant to essay the role played by Mohanlal in Malayalam. He noted that though the screen icon loved the script, he refused to sign the movie saying that his fans wouldn’t be able to accept the scene where his character is beaten up by the police.
The filmmaker made the revelation while pointing out how stardom limits the artistic freedom of actors.
In 'Drishyam', a scene shows Kalabhavan Shajon hitting the character played by Mohanlal. He recalled that many had opposed filming that scene fearing the reaction of Mohanlal’s fans. However, Mohanlal went ahead with the scene, which was a relevant one, saying that cinema was more important than anything else.
“I really wish that there won’t emerge another superstar in Malayalam cinema. This superstardom is in fact a restricting factor for the actors. I wish none of the young actors became superstars. It wouldn’t do any good if a talented person tries to stifle the artist within him, fearing that it would negatively affect his image,” said Jeethu.
Filmmaker Ranjith had recently revealed that Antony Perumbavoor who produced 'Drishyam' was upset when he saw Mohanlal’s character being beaten up by Shajon during the shooting.
