Saturday Jan 05 2008, Trivendrum

My Work Is My Award: Jagathy Sreekumar

This is something that is handicap for me, especially since I do comedy

*What are your opinions about the new generation of comedians in Malayalam?

-There are a whole lot of new generation comedians, who are all talented and hard-working.Those like Harisri Ashokan, Salim Kumar, Suraaj etc have been getting appreciated by people and are currently hot-property in Malayalam Cinema.Some of them have also been doing serious kind of roles and thus proving their versatility.

As I said, comedy has its appeal always and hence comedians would go on coming one after the other and if they are enterprising and talented, they would make their presence felt too.

*Do you think that Malayalam Cinema is changing with the times?

-To a certain extent, Malayalam cinema is changing with the times.We have got better technicians and technical know-how.We have got talented and industrious actors.But as regards the quality of the films that we make, there is still more work left for us to do.

And another thing that I would like to mention is that we have to change and adapt our theatres in accordance with the times.Gone are the times when people would be willing to pay their money and sit on benches to see films.We have to make film-viewing a more comfortable experience for them and at the same time we should provide them with as much new amenities as possible.The world is changing fast and Malayalam Cinema has to put up with these changes.

*You never seem to be bothered about awards.Why so?

-For me, my work, my performance is my award.I do my characters and just leave it behind and tend to go on, with my work.Of course I am not underestimating the importance of awards.But it is just that I have never stopped to care about awards.The contentment that I get out of my work and the love that people bestow upon me are for me the best of all awards.