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Nivin Pauly is on a dream run

dubai - The South Indian superstar shares his movie aspirations and why he's excited about his Bollywood debut.

South Indian superstar Nivin Pauly is riding high after the success of his period film Kayamkulam Kochunni. After endearing himself to Malayali audiences with his lover boy roles, the actor is now dabbling in various genres.

Ahead of his visit to Dubai on Friday to attend a property exhibition, the actor spoke to City Times about his future movies, career evolution and upcoming Bollywood debut. Excerpts from the interview:

How has the public response been to Kayamkulam Kochunni? Did the delay owing to the Kerala floods affect the film in any way?
Kayamkulam Kochunni was a dream role and it was an honour to be able to portray him. It was also a huge responsibility as he was very much the Robin Hood of Kerala (stealing from the rich and giving to the poor) and I wanted to do justice to him. Of course, being from Kerala, it was very close to my heart. The floods never affected the film in any way. If that's the case, we wouldn't have achieved Rs550 million in collection in the first 10 days of the movie's release.
 
There are rumors that your next film, Love Action Drama, is a remake of Sreenivasan's legendary film Vadakunokkiyanthram. What are the similarities in your character with Thalathil Dineshan?
Love Action Drama is a pure rom-com directed by my friend Dhyan Sreenivasan. It is not a remake of Vadakkunokiyanthram. I don't want to divulge any details at this stage. We have completed the first schedule of the film and the second schedule will begin soon.
 
Tell us a bit about Mikhael. What genre does the movie fall into?
Mikhael is directed by Haneef Adeni who has directed Great Father. I really love his style of filmmaking. Mikhael is a family thriller that focuses on the relationship between a brother and a sister. The shooting is still going on.
 
Are you excited about your Bollywood debut with Moothon? Will you be dubbing the Hindi dialogues? How was the experience of working with Geetu Mohandas?
I am very excited to be doing Moothon, which is a bilingual film for which I underwent a lot of training to speak Hindi fluently. It's got stalwarts like Geetu Mohandas, Rajeev Ravi and Anurag Kashyap behind it. I would love to work with filmmakers all over the country. I think we are extremely fortunate to be working in this age where that is a very real possibility and language barriers are no longer an issue.
 
Did you ever fear that Mohanlal would steal your thunder in his cameo in Kayamkulam Kochunni? Are you open to sharing screen space with other established actors?
Frankly no. It was an extremely surreal moment for me because I have grown up watching Mohanlal's films and was always in awe of him. To be able to work with him was a dream come true and it was very inspiring to watch him on set. He made me comfortable on the sets despite my nervousness.
 
You made a mark early on in your career playing the boy-next-door and lover boy type roles. When can we see that Nivin again? Is it a conscious attempt to stay away from such roles as you evolve as an actor?
I love all types of genres and roles and I enjoy playing varied characters. I have been extremely fortunate in my career so far to have been able to play a wide range of characters and I have enjoyed every single one of them. I want to constantly expand and grow as an actor, so I am open to all genres. I want to keep challenging and pushing myself out of my comfort zone so that I can keep improving my craft. I think my performances are always elevated by the people I work with and I have been fortunate enough to have worked with brilliant filmmakers. I try to stay true to their vision and do justice to the characters they create and bring the role to life in the way they want it. I still have a lot to learn. Every film I work on has taught me something new and has influenced my craft. Sure, no one is perfect and we all make mistakes, but more importantly, we learn from our mistakes. It's all a part of being human.

As a producer, will you only bankroll movies that you star in? What is your next production venture?
Production is something that I really enjoy. Action Hero Biju was my first movie as a producer and I learnt many things. So, when we produced Njandukalude Naatil Oridavela, it was pretty easy. If there is strong content that needs to be discussed in front of the audience, I will take it. It is not necessary that I should act in that movie. I am always open to the idea of supporting new talent in the industry. We are working on a few scripts and hopefully I will be able to announce it next year.
 
Tell us about the N.N. Pillai biopic you are working on with Rajeev Ravi? How are you preparing for it?
It's an interesting project and I never thought twice when I heard the story. But I will be doing another project with Rajeev Ravi before this one. Discussions are going on. We will reveal the details soon.
 
Tell us about your upcoming venture with Rosshan Andrews, The Pirates of Diego Garcia.
This is an ambitious project and it will be as big as Kochunni. It's too early to talk anything on this. The scripting work has started.
 
Has shooting commenced for your film with Jomon T John, titled Kairali? When will it release?
Kairali is an ambitious project and it's a huge responsibility to bring this project on canvas. The pre-production work is still going on and the scripting is going on in full swing.
- deepthi@khaleejtimes.com