No one bossed a set like he did: Anoop Menon on Dhyan Sreenivasan
Taking a good-natured dig at his co-star, Anoop joked that no one in Malayalam cinema has ever bossed around a set the way Dhyan did when he was an assistant director.
Taking a good-natured dig at his co-star, Anoop joked that no one in Malayalam cinema has ever bossed around a set the way Dhyan did when he was an assistant director.
Taking a good-natured dig at his co-star, Anoop joked that no one in Malayalam cinema has ever bossed around a set the way Dhyan did when he was an assistant director.
Actor Anoop Menon had the audience in splits during the press meet of the upcoming film 'Raveendra Nee Evideya', as he shared a hilarious memory from Dhyan Sreenivasan’s early days in the industry. Taking a good-natured dig at his co-star, Anoop joked that no one in Malayalam cinema has ever bossed around a set the way Dhyan did when he was an assistant director.
Recalling the incident, Anoop said, “I had the rare honour of being the hero in Dhyan Sreenivasan’s first film as an assistant director. I think I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth repeating.”
He continued by shedding light on how assistant directors are typically treated on sets. “They are probably the most yelled-at and overworked people on a film set. Everyone takes out their frustration on them — directors, producers, even the actors. But with all the sympathy and affection I have for ADs, I must say Dhyan stood apart from the rest.”
Anoop quipped that if someone visited the set during Dhyan’s AD days, they’d be inspired to become an assistant director rather than an actor, just to carry themselves the way Dhyan did. “He had a rule — he would only show up after I arrived,” Anoop laughed.
He recalled an instance during a shoot in Vengeri, where Dhyan would casually drive along the Thondayadu bypass and call the set to ask, “Has that Anoop Menon fellow arrived yet?” Only if the answer was yes, would he head over.
“And when he did arrive, he’d come running in, calling out ‘Anooppetta!’ in that enthusiastic tone. We all knew the drill. He had his own little set routines to make it seem like he’d been working hard until noon. But even back then, I knew — this guy wasn’t going to stay behind the camera for long,” Anoop said.
According to him, Dhyan had what people call “hot cake” energy — someone who was bound to stand out. “There was no other path for him. Stardom was inevitable.”
Ending on a warm note, Anoop added, “I’m sure one day Dhyan will direct a film for me. Jokes apart, I really do admire him as an actor. More than that, there’s an energy he brings into any space — something you can’t manufacture. That’s what true stardom is. And in Dhyan’s case, I’ve seen more of that stardom off screen than on. But I’m sure it’ll make its way to the screen too.”