A social media note posted by Kumar Neelakandan praising the performance of veteran actor Indrans in the latest movie #HOME has become viral among cinema enthusiasts. Kumar says that the character called Oliver Twist played brilliantly by Indrans is the soul of this movie. He added that the petite actor has been climbing the ladder of success in Malayalam cinema with his impeccable talent.
Kumar begins his viral social media post by wondering whether it was the maturity of age that has brought a change in Indrans. However, he dismisses this by saying that the fabulous performances of an artist have got nothing to do with age. “No one might have realized the splendid acting prowess in him during the time when he had been playing comical or insignificant roles. The Malayali audience found his skinny body funny and wanted to see him in comedy roles. I must say that Indrans had made his entry when physical comedy was becoming popular. The hero had the handsome body while the villain flaunted his fit physique. It was quite stereotypical for actors who did not have a great body to essay roles that provided comic relief. But, actors like Captain Raju, Janardhanan and Bheeman Raghu smashed this stereotype by switching roles from villains to comedy actors,” wrote Kumar.
Kumar says that Indrans was an actor who had been honing his skills to finally come out of the countless comedy roles that he had essayed on screen. He cites the examples of legendary actors such as Adoor Bhasi, Bahadur, Kuthriavattam Pappu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Mala Aravindan and Mamukoya who had played some unforgettable character roles despite being comedy actors. Kumar credits the gut feeling of many directors who showed the courage to bring out the best from these incredibly talented actors. He says that it must be a few serious notes or snippets of spectacular performances in a comedy movie that must have encouraged the directors to explore their talents. Kumar adds that had it not been for these interferences, no one would have recognized the splendid potential of a handful of actors who had been limited to just comedy roles for decades. He calls it not interference of fate, but justice to the talent of the actor.
“Barring a few changes that age had brought, Indrans’ body looks the same. He sounds the same too. But, the kind of characters that he does now, using that petite body, has surely taken him to the heights of Malayalam cinema. The latest example of it is the character called Oliver Twist that he played in #HOME, produced by Vijay Babu and directed by Rojin Thomas. From the beginning itself, the soul of the movie is this character played spectacularly by this actor. The character is so flawlessly essayed by Indrans that nowhere does the actor allow it to slip out of hands. It seems as if he has been scripting new theories of acting where an actor takes up roles that suits him perfectly and performs it subtly and as effortlessly as possible. This could be seen in various intensities in the movie #HOME,” notes Kumar.
“I must thank all those film makers who had fanned the little sparks of talent in Indrans into a splendid blaze. In fact, who are the ones that rightly recognized the incredible flair in Indrans? We have seen glimpses of his amazing talent in a handful of scenes even before he had fabulously essayed the role of Pappu Pisharady in VC Abhilash’s Aalorukkam. Those who recognize the real talent of an artist and give them appropriate characters too deserve to be celebrated, because I am sure that lots of such artists are out there, waiting to be found,” says Kumar.
Kumar Neelakandan concludes his post by thanking Vijay Babu and Rojin Thomas and their entire team of #HOME which inspired him to write such an appreciative note.
