Once I reach home,
I'm not a film actor. To my parents, I’m their son. I'm a younger brother to
my brother and sister. Husband to my wife
and father to my kids. I don't have a role beyond that. I am someone who
lives in my dream. So, how can I
regret or complain? I'm living the life I dreamt about. Our tagline is ''A heart melting
miserable story of a hapless superstar, told through a dash of comedy.'' That's how I characterize this
movie from the initial days. Hello and welcome
everybody to our show. Today's episode is very special. A guest is repeated for
the first time on our show. And it was one of my biggest wishes,
but it didn't fall into place... and suddenly, it
happened out of nowhere. And we have Tovino
Thomas again on our show. Isn' that superb? Tovino, welcome to the show. Thank you. Don't make me cry! People told me ''Don't go and sob there.''',
when they heard I was coming here. Tell me what people told you. After that incident in our first
episode, today I've come prepared. Today, I won't cry. At that moment, you
had tears, that's all. But, it was interpreted
in various ways. During Thallumaala, you were seen
as a symbol of masculine alpha male. And when such a person got emotional,
the interpretations went far away. It was a positive
influence on people that it's okay to be emotional
and shed your tears. There's nothing wrong with it. We are given that skill, tears and
tear glands to make use of it, right? So, it's okay to cry. Even though people mocked you-- Not in that sense, they'll
understand only if they see it. That I'm not so good at acting. I'm very attached and
dependent on my family. All of my family members. Especially in the
case of my brother. It's hard to say for sure, but I wonder if I would
have done the same thing if I had been in his shoes
and he had been in mine. What did Tingston say? He casually cracked
a joke about it. We usually have
such conversations. We don't get into such
dramatic conversations. When we talk, we
perceive it funnily. ''Don't shower praises
on me anywhere you go!" I can't stand such popularity" Yeah, he said it humorously. Throughout our life, we rarely
had such emotional talks. The term 'emotional drama' is
rarely present in our conversations. We talk to each other about
it with a dash of comedy. Many people could relate to it. The bond between
brothers is so unique. And I think a lot of people could
relate to that moment and that emotion. You mentioned your family now. I've seen the photos of your
family trip to Sri Lanka. Travel is a big
part of your life. You vanish right after
the release of the movie. And you show up somewhere else. Where did you goof around and what did
you do? Tell us about it in a nutshell. I have decided to take a
break for 1 month every year. To spend time with my family. And if I sit at home after taking a
break, it can't be called a break. Because there are chances that I
get engaged in some other work life, meeting people, dubbing
patch works or promotions. Or interviews like this! Yeah, or someone might
call to narrate a story. If we are at home, we should spend
the entire time with the family. or there's no point in
taking such a break. So, I thought it was better to
leave the country during the break. So, all of us decided
to travel together. There were 10-20 people? 15! We could fill in the
number for a package trip! Dad took us on many trips. Not outside India. I went outside India for the first
time in 2015, even after my marriage. But, we travelled
a lot inside India. We went to a lot of places
even when I was a kid. Share a memory, as a little
kid seeing something. -There are many.
-Earliest memory? Earliest... Kanyakumari, Ooty. Dad drove the car and
took us to some places. Otherwise, we go
by bus or train. Kanyakumar and Ooty are some
of my earliest memories. Back in the day, we have gone to Chennai,
Bangalore and Mysore. We went to Kolkata too,
when I was a little kid. My mom's brother
was working there. In the past, we took a trip
that included Delhi, Punjab, the Wagah Border, Amritsar
and the Golden Temple. When I was in 7th grade. In every Onam, Christmas
and Summer vacation. Travel was a big part, right? It helped us bond
with each other. Like the last trip,
all of you together? It's like a routine
drill for us. Usually, all the 5 of us would be
there. Dad, mom, sister, brother and me. Now, I'm doing the
continuation of it. We are going through a
stressful work atmosphere, often, our work won't even let
us take an off on weekends. If we are still talking about movies
even when we are taking a break, we can't unwind our stress. Once I reach home,
I'm not a film actor. To my parents, I’m a son. I'm a younger brother to
my brother and sister. Husband to my wife
and father to my kids. I don't have a role beyond that. My kids won't be feeling anything
special as I'm a film actor. When they were born, I
was already a film actor. They treat me just like my
other family members do. They have no deep
understanding of it. I can be myself in that space.
That's something I'm happy about. Another interesting
element I found in it... that's to do with, you love to do stuff
that brings you a huge adrenaline rush. And the first time I saw
you was doing ziplining. In Jaipur, Rajasthan I guess? No. Jebel Jais Mountains,
Ras Al Khaimah. It was the longest
zipline, I think. And standing on that glass,
is it in Burj Khalifa? And underwater
through the tunnel. I always see you in various places
as an adventure-seeking person. If you can remember from
any of these travels, what's that experience
that excited you the most or you feel like you
should do it again? I love getting an
adrenaline rush. Not because I'm fearless.
Yes, I'm afraid. We won't get that adrenaline
rush if we are fearless. We can't get to it without
the emotion called fear. Be it bungee jumping,
zipline or skydiving... if someone asks me right after getting
done with it, I'll say let's do it again! I don't know if that courage
will leak after some time. I'll be so afraid
right before jumping. We'll think ''Do I really have to
do it?" in a fraction of a second. But, we'd have jumped
within that time. For instance, I tried Bungee
Jumping from Victoria Falls. It's an interesting place. There's a bridge between
Zambia and Zimbabwe. And there's a yellow line
in between the bridge. And this place is
near that yellow line. Until the rope gets tight, it's
free fall. So, we'll panic a bit. Gradually, we'll understand that we
are safe and then there's a rebound... And during that rebound, I can see a rainbow
in between the waterfalls and the sun. After that, if someone asks me
immediately, I'll jump again. After some time, I might
not feel like jumping. Back then, there was
a friend with me. When we were having food
after the jump he told me, He's a Punjabi and he said ''Now
that we jumped, let me tell you... ''Four years ago, an Australian
woman tried the same activity here, but the rope snapped.'' I replied ''Eh? What?" Did she survive?'' Yeah, as she was a good swimmer,
she got through the waterfall. But, it doesn't end there.
Crocodiles are there in it. And people saved her somehow.'' I wouldn't have jumped had
I known it a bit earlier. I jumped without
knowing all this. But I realized what I did was more
risky as the crocodile was in the water. We don't have to be afraid of the
risk until an accident happens. My sympathy is with Lidiya. She was also with me
when we did the zipline. Bungee jumping is for people
who are a bit more crazy. And skydiving? That's
what people say usually. Skydiving was so amazing! I did skydiving in Dubai. Neeraj Madhav was also with me. We went to Dubai for Mexican
Aparatha movie event. That's how we planned it. Two of my friends
also accompanied us. My senior and his brother. The height was
around 14,000 feet. But, we feel a little
more safe while doing it. Because we are jumping
under the control of someone who jumps at
least 7-8 times per day. When they were on air,
that person told Neeraj-- A well-built guy was with him. ''Sorry Sir, the
parachute is not opening!" But, he was kidding. They are actually
controlling us. There's another person who
commands more of our respect. Have you ever thought
about who takes our videos? When we are facing
there, about to jump There's someone jumping alongside parallel
with us, facing the other side. With a Go Pro camera. He
should time his jump with us. I didn't know about it. He'll be having wings
like a flying squirrel. And he should hold the camera in
a way that we are in the frame. He should be so
experienced, right? They should keep the log. They have some credit point system as
well, as per the number of times they go. I had heard news about that too. That someone's
parachute didn't open. There are probabilities. Recently. But, my parachute opened! When we visited Georgia,
a few months back... There's a place called Gudauri. My wife and I did
paragliding over there. Flying is an exciting
feeling for me. So, there are chances for you
to become a commercial pilot. No, I can't take up such
huge responsibilities. How do they do it!? It
requires a lot of courage. Some people do it out of
passion, after taking a license. I don't really like
to drive cars either. I'm lazy in those matters
and I'm not a petrolhead. And the automobile craze? It's very little. I tell my friends
who are pilots-- We can sit in the cockpit in small
jets and one person can fly it. I had put out a video
with a CID Moosa reference of me turning back
from the cockpit and saying there's no stop in
Edappally, we'll drop you at Aluva. As the backseats were full, I
had to sit beside the pilot. It was an 8-seater flight. I guess they'd be getting a huge adrenaline
rush while taking off and landing. As in, they are actually flying. I could also experience it
as I was in the front seat. It was not a side view as we
see from the passenger seat. I could experience take-off
and landing so closely. So, I can share that
adrenaline rush with the pilot. He's flying it. But, I'm not brave
enough to fly it. What are you very
possessive about? Of course, there's travel. Also, catching butterflies! Beyond that, is there anything that
you are particularly attached to? A small thing or something
that you really treasure. Or do you believe in any
kind of superstition? Is there something that
you actually hold on to? I don't have that kind of attraction
towards materialistic things. Watches, gadgets...nothing? I'm not so attached to it. Like if it's
lost, it's okay for me. I'll buy another. There's nothing that I
used to treasure so much. There are only memories from
childhood that I hold on to. Because, of the pain
when it's lost... We can grieve over
the loss of a person. But I can't grieve over
the loss of some object. So, I don't have
such possessions. Nothing like lucky
possessions and all that. If I have started something,
it'd have gone out of hands. Let me ask you a
random question. What's your biggest regret? A question that popped in my head now. Nothing like that. Are you someone who
lives 'in the moment'? I am someone who
lives in my dream. So, how can I regret or complain? I'm living the life
that I dreamt about. Actually. You're
living your dream. That thought occurred in my mind
while I was researching about you. From being a software engineer
who worked in Cognizant, and leaving all that behind... Starting from scratch and making it
in this industry is not that easy. We usually think of the success
and failure of each film. But according to me,
it's all a bonus. For me, to get into this
industry itself was a dream. I got into it and am still here. So, I'm living my dream
and how could I complain? If there are three people who helped you
to get here other than friends and family, There might be many. But still, can
you share about three such people. For me, it's the people
outside the cinema who have helped me other than the
ones in this industry. Because, I got to know the people inside
the industry once I entered the industry. That's obviously my
friends and family. Also my cousins. Cousins are family and
at the same time friends. So, my close family members and
best friends are the reason. Even though I dreamt, if there was no
one to support me, nothing would happen. Tovi, when we talked about cinema
earlier, you told me one thing. 'My unpredictability is
where I don't take risks.' That is what I've seen. We met on the release date
of 'Thallumaala.' -Yes. We shot in the morning and in 1
hour you went for the premiere. Since that time, I have
been observing your films. You have done different roles. Be it 'Anweshippin Kandethum'
or 'Adrishya Jalakangal' or '2018' or 'Naradan' These are very different
roles that you've played. -'Neelavelicham'.
-Yes, 'Neelavelicham'. You know all these characters are very
different and you are true to your word. In fact, no roles
are being repeated. Now when we're talking
about the movie 'Nadikar', Is there some connection with the colours,
flavours and costumes of 'Thallumaala'? -This film is not at all like 'Thallumaala'.
-Is it? Okay. In terms of the colours and
textures, it might be similar. But in terms of the story and
the world revolving around it, If 'Thallumaala' was about the
story of the guys of Ponnani, In 'Nadikar', it's about
the story of an actor. Still, we don't have that
intention of emotionally move people by showcasing
the pain of an actor. It's not like that. Our tagline is ''A heart melting
miserable story of a hapless superstar, told through a dash of comedy.'' That's how I characterize this
movie from the initial days. I told them that I'll repeat
the same in every interviews. Actually, when I was
working, I felt that. Did you feel any connection
with the real life? There are similarities. Since we are working
in this industry, when we make a film about that, definitely there'll be
inspirations and all. We tweak such stuff and place
it cinematically in the movie. But this is a fictional
character and story. Since we have to showcase it a bit
cinematically, it's made like that. But it's actually
an emotional drama. Even though the first
10-15 minutes of the movie might seem like a
colourful, vibrant movie... Further on, it's his
emotional journey. Is there a darkness
that travels along? Darkness means... He has all
the luxury but he isn't happy. That's what I felt
about the character. He has every luxury. He has achieved everything
that many people dream of. It's also the life
that he has dreamt of. But, he lacks the people who can keep
him rooted, as I mentioned before. That's the major difference
between me and this character. I have to talk more about
differences than similarities. So, this character behaves
in an entirely opposite way. But, he is not evil. He has every waywardness
defined by societal norms. He can be called as a bad guy
in a moral policing aspect. As the story progresses, we come
to know that he's not an evil guy. He is an innocent guy. He couldn't handle his success. That's true. It's his emotional journey. We know bad guys
without any bad habits. You mentioned about
societal norms now. Are there any societal norms
that you can't ever agree with? Tell me frankly. A norm in society or a practice in
society that you can't agree with. Even if we oppose something
or expect it to change... it won't change as we please. But, I have often felt that society
has a mechanism to correct itself. I wish the love and
affection that emerges during hard times like natural
disasters could be the standard, not the exception. I don't check online and understand deeply
about the society and its ongoing trends. I understand it in person
from actual human beings.
