Meet Sibi Kuttappan, Thrissur native who perfected Michael Jackson's signature style in 'Moonwalk' climax

Irinjalakuda native Sibi Kuttappan was working in a shoe shop when a child approached him and said that he looked like Michael Jackson. Sibi had never followed the pop idol until then and the young boy's words sparked curiosity within him. "You should watch Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. You look exactly like him," the young boy concluded and left.

Sibi, who loved to dance, soon started collecting Michael Jackson's cassettes that were easily available in the market post the death of the King of Pop in 2009. "That young boy's words changed my life. I watched Thriller and saw the similarity he mentioned," Sibi told Onmanorama.

Since then, he has emulated the legendary American singer-dancer on several stages, paying tribute to Michael Jackson whenever he got the opportunity. "But the climax scene in 'Moonwalk' was my ultimate tribute to MJ. I have performed his style on several stages, but the perfection I attained in 'Moonwalk' beats them all," he said. Sibi was cast as Sura in 'Moonwalk' after the film director K Vinod's assistant Jomit saw his dance performance in a popular reality show.

"One day, Vinod Sir called me into his office and expressed his interest in casting me for the role of Sura. Initially, I almost said no because I had never acted before, and I never dreamed of becoming an actor. The offer intimidated me, but I was persuaded by the confidence they had in me," he said.

The makers, however, did not reveal much about his character in the movie. "I had made a brief appearance in Tovino Thomas's Guppy and I thought the role would be quite similar. But I was truly surprised when they released the poster featuring me in a prominent role," he said, and added that he was told about the climax dance only towards the middle of the shoot. "This was the director's brilliance. They knew I tended to freak out if they revealed more," he said.

All the actors in the movie were given three months of rigorous training - in acting, dancing and physical fitness. "We benefited a lot from this training and the makers ensured we were well fed and happy. This helped our chemistry in the film too," he added. However, nothing prepared Sibi for the exclusive one-month training for the climax scene. "Though we had shot the climax scene along with the rest of the film, the makers decided to reshoot it to attain perfection. The reshoot began post-Covid in 2019 but I was a bit out of practice by then. Film choreographer Sreejith master worked extremely hard to perfect my scenes. And this has borne fruit. Everyone who watched the movie discussed the climax. Nothing could make me this happy," he said.

Though the climax scene required intensive hours of workout and perfection, Sibi felt most unnerved by the police station scene in the movie. "Vinod sir came and told me that I had to cry out loudly when the police officers in the scene cut my hair. I have never cried like this in my life and I was unsure if I could do it convincingly," he said. He added that he felt sad when his long, curly tresses were cut and he had to appear in a clean-shaven look in the scene. "All of us are dancers and our hair is an important part of our style. I initially told the director I could not cut my hair. All of us felt sad about it, but our scriptwriter Sunil chettan encouraged us. We only realised the importance of that scene when the movie hit theatres," he said.

Sibi believes the film has also build his confidence as an actor. "I believe I belong on the stage as a a dancer, but I am now open to acting roles too," he said.