Certain actors relentlessly challenge their limits and bounds to canvas magic that was hitherto unseen in their craft. They enjoy the process of breaking their moulds and reshaping their talent into a new template. The baggage of image never hinders their perseverance. This opinion piece is on one such veteran talent, Sajan Sooreya who is a prominent figure in the Malayalam serial milieu.
With a legacy that’s dated almost 25 years, Sajan Sooreya has more than 100 mega serials, precisely remarkable Malayalam soap operas to his credit in his career graph. Irrespective of those numbers and credentials and a humble disposition from his end, in his interviews, one senses the frustration of an actor who was criminally underutilized despite his decades-long career.
In a discussion with one of his long-standing fans, I found insights that might just ascertain that assumption. She opined that over the years he was thumped down with the label of good son or good son-in-law and showered with love by the serial audience for the same. While it accredits his excellence in the roles he was bestowed with and the popularity they garnered, it also whispers of the stereotyping and bracketing that often limits an actor.
In the serial landscape, the scope and budget are often limited to push through and be innovative. Or rather there is a drawback of being typecast into a mold which is difficult to outgrow if this is your bread and butter as well. Sajan Sooreya who came from a theatre background and had the extra safety net of a government job could make some bold choices along the way though not much.
When one scrolls through his last few choices one can sense a pedal shift and a determination to not be contained into one format. While cinema remained an elusive dream, he worked around the opportunities that came his way, not hesitating to take up a vulgar villain role or a character that had to stand on the sidelines and add gems to his career tirelessly. Today as he gets into the role of AGM aka Arakkal Govind Madhav, his current work, he is yet again pushing the envelope.
The now-running Malayalam soap opera, Geetha Govindam aired on Asianet, is gathering attention with its loud intention to entertain and appeal to the young belt audience. Sajan Sooreya is playing the lead character Arakkal Govind Madhav abbreviated as AGM by his fanbase, a role that is curating a palette of shades for the actor to thaw into. While appreciation is roaring from one end, there have been murmurs of disapproval of the actor’s choice and that’s where the legend’s vision and daringness come to notice.
Opinions are floating around on why an actor of this legacy chose to do a show or role that probably won’t attune to the image he has engineered over the years and appeal to the admirers of his past. But when you look closer at the character of AGM one can perceive that the role is providing the actor with moments to communicate his range with a mainstream flavour to it. There are beats to his performance where myriad tonalities of rage and angst, comic relief and passion, heroism and despair are stitched together showcasing the actor’s ambit.
Also, the seasoned artist must have sensed the change of tone that was coming with this new show. Malayalam serial landscape is new to the format this show is following which is standing closer to that of Hindi serial dialect. Asianet has of course done remakes of Hindi shows before, converting the plot into the cultural settings of Kerala. But probably with the reception, some popular dubbed Hindi shows garnered on their sister channels, Asianet must have sensed the scope for a tone shift. Perhaps it didn’t miss the eye of the experienced actor too. It was probably this new shift of tone that excited the actor and he saw the potential and the axis tilt that this show could provide for his career as well as the Malayalam serial plateau.
Maybe it would have been easier for him to choose a project that offered a safe role and maybe that would have been easier to land considering his brand. That’s where the artist’s thirst to break free of the trappings and challenge himself resonates louder. It shouldn’t come as a shock though for he had declared he was immune to bounds with his daring act of towel dance, which he had performed for a stage show. An actor redefining himself when he could easily lay back on the foundation, he has already set is an artist who essentially has no full stop. Sajan Sooreya is a solid promise to the audience who enjoy his work.
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