'Goal' star Rajith lays the groundwork for direction

'Goal' star Rajith lays the groundwork for direction
For Rajith Menon, a mechanical engineer by academic profile, entry into cinema was just coincidental.

Among the young crop of actors who shifted stream from engineering to a career in cinema, actor Rajith Menon seems to be the first in line. Those who followed the trend after him had dug deep into the Malayalam film industry and registered their presence aloud. Rajith said he never got into any circuit and that he was happy for that. But it was not without any reason that he remained aloof in the industry in the early stage of his career.

"I did my first film 'Goal' during a vacation amid my engineering course. I was quite particular that I should not lose out on my studies. So I didn't commit any film when I found that they would hamper my studies. After that I did my MBA so I couldn't be active in those years."

For the mechanical engineer, entry into cinema was just coincidental. Yet he had all the big names, like IV Sasi, TK Rajeev Kumar, Joshy, Rajasenan among others to list when it comes to films in which he played lead roles. Though most of them were flops I consider myself fortunate to associate with them as working with those stalwarts was quite a learning experience for me", says Rajith.

For the actor, how those films fared at the box office didn't matter much as Rajith was always dreaming to be a director. Yet, he went on to play lead roles in Tamil, Telugu and even Hindi film apart from Malayalam.

'Goal' star Rajith lays the groundwork for direction
A still from 2007 film 'Goal'

Rajith has always been assertive about his ambition that he always wanted to be a director. The aspiring director has not been able to venture into directorial debut following various other commitments. However, he is all set and ready to embark on filmmaking. ''The film will be ready within a year. All the preliminary works have been completed," says Rajit.

In the run up to prep himself for his directorial venture, he has made some album songs and has also directed some advertisements. "If I approach a producer, I don't want to project my acting stints as my credentials," Rajith says, “I would like to present my directorial abilities as my profile.”

'Goal' star Rajith lays the groundwork for direction
Rajith Menon and Nithya Menon in a still from 2009 film 'Vellathooval'

The music video 'Love Policy' featuring Aju Varghese and Shridha Shivadas in the lead was a hit on YouTube. The duet was rendered by Sooraj Santhosh and Ramaya Nambeesan.

As to which genre he gets attracted to the most, he says that it's his wildest fear if he would get attached to a particular genre. "I watch all kinds of movies and I watch them almost on first-day-first-show basis. I love all genres of movies and while making films too I will make sure that each of my films is entirely different from the other in subject, theme and treatment," quips Rajith.

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