Kochupreman had a stunning makeover for his role n 'Roopantharam'.Panaji: “Roopanthram” translates to metamorphosis in Engish. Certainly, Padmakumar's latest Malayalam movie "Roopanharam" too portrays a metamorphosis – that of a 65-year-old blind man to the world of light, though he is not willing to accept it.
The film was noted for the transformation of its lead actor Kochupreman from a sidekick comedian to a character artiste.
Roopantharam, which was screened as part of the Indian Panorama segment of the ongoing IFFI here, is a journey through the daily life of Raghavan, a visually impaired lottery vendor who lives in a colony, along with Abdu. Abdu is a hearing- and speech-impaired youngster, whom Raghavan had adopted from the street.
The film depicts how Raghavan leads a normal life despite his lack of eyesight and how Abdu's decision to subject him undergo an eye transplant changes his life forever.
Kochupreman with director PadmakumarKochupreman's transformation into Raghavan is simply mesmerizing. The actor brings in a lot of subtlety and details into his character. Sequences, wherein Raghavan cooks in his single-room house, sells lottery inside a bus, etc., stand testimony to the natural actor he is.
Poster of the movie 'Roopantharam'"I have been playing comic characters all these years and rarely did I get the opportunity to play such characters. One such character role I played was in Rajeev Anchal's “Guru” and another in “Mizhikal Sakshi”. I knew Padmakumar for a longtime. When Padmakumar approached me with the character of Raghavan I was a bit worried whether the audience would accept it because I have been doing comic roles all these years. Now I’m happy to hear all the good words from those who watched the movie," an elated Kochupreman told Onmanorama on the sidelines of IFFI.
He said there were no particular preparations for playing the character. Admitting that it’s upsetting that the performance didn’t fetch him any awards, Kochupreman said: "I would be lying if I say I'm not sad about not getting an award. This year's national award was for Amitabh Bachchan. I'm happy that I came third in the race for the national award after great actors like Bachchan," he said.
Kochupreman said he will now be choosier about his charactersKochupreman said he will now be choosier about his characters. "Of late, I have been avoiding many comic characters that came my way. I wish to concentrate on more serious characters now," he said.
A still from 'Roopantharam'.Written and directed by Padmakumar after his award winning "My Life Partner", “Roopantharam” has debutante Bharath Chand and Sona Nair in the lead roles. The film is one of the three Malayalam films, along with Jayaraj's “Veeram" and Dr Biju Kumar’s “Kaadu Pookkunna Neram”, chosen in the Indian Panorama (feature films) segment of this year’s IFFI. Padmakumar hopes to release “Roopantharam” in theaters at the earliest.
