Saturday Jan 05 2008, Trivendrum

My Work Is My Award: Jagathy Sreekumar

Jagathy Sreekumar is one of the most popular actors in the Malayalam film-industry.An actor with a career spanning a period of 35 years and with more than 1200 films to his credit, Jagathy is a household name, liked by people of all ages.The indisputable king of comedy in Malayalam Cinema, Jagathy Sreekumar ha given life to characters of all hues and kinds and remains always active, whatever be the trend.He has been an indispensable part of mainstream Malayalam Cinema and at the same time has been there in offbeat, arty ones too.He has been liked not just by the people, but filmmakers too, all kinds of filmmakers.

The versatile actor, who had also tried his hand at direction a couple of times, speaks about his films and his career and also about himself as a person in a casual interview.Excerpts-

*What's the secret of the popularity you enjoy among the masses in Kerala?

-It's no secret at all.The man reason is that I have been able to portray on screen characters of all kinds, ranging from hilariously funny ones to serious ones, characters that have helped me in endearing myself to the audience.The range of characters that I have got to do in my acting career is simply astounding.Very few actors in the industry have been fortunate enough to do characters of so wide a range.

And another thing is that being an actor who has specialized in comedy, which is something that always has an appeal, I am naturally popular among people.And I have been always active, ever since I made my entry into films way back in 1972, thus remaining in the limelight all the time.

*You have always been talking a lot about the necessity of observation.Could you comment on that a bit?

-Observation is something that is of prime importance as far as any actor is concerned.If we have the tendency to observe all the different people that we come across in our lives, it would teach us a lot about people and their different ways of behaviour, their manners etc.

The way they walk and the way they talk and the way they behave in different situations and contexts teach us a lot.We can learn a lot from them and adopt many such things we have observed and thus work upon our characters from our side and do a lot of improvisations.

*So, you always do such kinds of improvisations?

-Of course.And it is due to this kind of observation-based-improvisation that I have succeeded in making my characters entirely different from one another.

*Do you ever regret being seen mainly as a comedian?

-No, never.I am actually proud to be specializing in comedy.The versatility that a comedian needs to have is something that makes his stand apart from the others.Would anyone say that Charlie Chaplin is not a good actor.He was a versatile actor, one of the most versatile actors of all times.And should I be regretful of having got the chance to be a part of the legacy left behind by such a great actor.

*You have been limiting yourself to Malayalam Cinema only.Why don't you try your hand at other languages too, at least now?
-I don't get the time to finish my commitments here itself.I have always been busy, rushing from place to place.I rarely find time for my family too.Another thing is that I don't think I would be comfortable in other languages, especially when I would have to dub my scenes.I won't be able to speak and emote in other language as effectively as in Malayalam