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GULF MADHYAMAM l No1 IN THE GULF
2012 MARCH 14 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 39
FIRST TAKE>
Jyothi Varma
He is the new face and, indeed, thenew voice of Malayalam
cinema.
The multi-faceted V G Mura-likrishnan alias MuraliGopiyes, he is
theson of the legendary actor Bharath Gopiis carving out his own
garden of creativityin the landscape of Malayalam cinema: asactor,
director, screenwriter and singer.
When in conversation with this promising
talent, the resemblance of the deep voicewith that of his father
is somewhat ines-capable. A lot of people have told me thesame,
says Murali.
Murali is happy that his new film, EeAdutha Kaalathu is faring
quite well at theBox Office.
He wrote the story, screenplay and dia-logues and even acted in
the film directedby Arun Kumar Arvind.Ee Adutha Kalathu could well
erase the
disappointment of his debut as actor andscreenwriter in the Lal
Jose movie Rasi-kan (2004). The way he sees it, Rasikanbombed
because the thematic essence waslost in translation when Lal Jose,
Dileep and
himself conceptualised the film in three dif-ferent ways. As a
result, the intended spooffell flat.
In contrast, the director feels that EeAdutha Kalathu has been
pitched as a fam-ily drama and thriller rolled into one.
Muralifeels that when it comes to dealing withgenres, the Malayalam
film industry blursthese boundaries whereas the genres
arestrait-jacketed in other industries.
All the characters that he moulds areessentially extensions of
his personalityand reflect his worldview. On his creativeprocess he
says: I have a lot of conflict-ing urges within myself. When these
reachflashpoint, I pick up my pen.
An avid blogger and short story writer,Murali is now with MSN
India (India Syndi-cate) as its Entertainment Editor, after
stintsas a journalist with The New Indian Expressand The Hindu.
Murali is more confident about the writerin him than the actor
within. Though as anactor, Murali essayed creditable performanc-es
in Blessys Bhramaram and KamalsGaddaama, he remains quite
apprehensiveof putting on the grease paint.
I am apprehensive about actingI relyon the confidence of the
directors for that.If somebody compliments me on my acting,then I
just feel relieved that I have not sul-lied my fathers name, says
Murali.
About the legendary Gopi: For Achan act-ing was a way of
life...it came to him verynaturally. Achan is my hero. He is the
ArtistMaximus, says the proud son.
Being paralysed at the peak of his careerwas a body blowmore so
in a professionthat puts so much demand on physicality.Achan was
emotionally very strong andspiritually evolved. That helped him
tideover the crisis, he said.
We now turn the spotlight on his lesserknown talentsinging.When
my friends gettogether, they some-times ask me to sing. Itwas in
one such sessionthat I sang ChaanjuNi-lkkana.Lal Jose waspretty
impressed andasked me to send a re-
cording to Vidyasagar,who was composing themusic for
RasikanIwent on to sing for thefilm, said Murali.
You cant help butnotice a philosophical trait in Murali. To
meart or cinema is a very sacred space which Ido not wish to
litter. Fame and money maybe important but they are not the be-all
andend-all, he said.
Quick money is what the industry isall about at present and this
leaves littlebreathing space for newcomers. There wasa time when
the story and screenplays werethe priority, but now we create
charactersfor superstars, and this is simply to get aproject
mounted on to the screen.
Being youthful in cinema is not about newfaces but about new
ideas and treatmentstyles, he says.
His suggestion for youngsters: Leisuredoes not guarantee
relaxation. Find waysto relaxstop flipping channels and
stayfocused.
nNew face, many facets
