One of the most sought-after names in Malayalam cinema, actor Tovino Thomas’ meteoric rise to stardom is worth marvelling over. After sharing screen space with the likes of Mohanlal, Dulquer Salmaan, and Prithviraj, this engineer-turned-model-turned-actor has managed to stand out among his contemporaries, and carved an identity of his own in five years. Tovino has, however, not let his stardom go to his head. His answer to how he remains grounded is simple. “No matter where we reach, we have our basic self. As long as we stay connected to it, we are going to do fine.
I prefer being original. I’m not interested in being someone else. My way of thinking and lifestyle may change according to the times but my basic self will remain unchanged, no matter what.” When the devastating floods hit Kerala recently, Tovino was one of the celebrities who were actively involved in the rescue and relief operations. It was an eye-opening experience, says the actor. “We have seen disasters of this magnitude happen in other countries before, but this is the first time that we faced it.
All of us experienced the fear of death. Everyone came together and did whatever they could, regardless of their feelings for each other. People from our generation are usually dismissed by the older generation as slackers spoiled by technology, but the floods changed all that. Even the lazy ones got to work. We not only discovered ourselves, but also each other.”
The entire experience brought visible changes to his personality, according to him. “When the floods hit, everything I had been worrying about prior to that looked trivial. I’m more relaxed now than before. I’ve learned to block out a lot of the negativity,” he says. Tovino’s helping tendency extends into his film career too. “I know the struggles I went through and when someone else is going through the same thing, I feel obliged to help.”
After his noteworthy performances in Ennu Ninte Moideen, Guppy, and Mayaanadhi, which became popular outside Kerala as well, Tovino has now become the go-to guy for playing flawed heroes. But he is not worried about being typecast. “We all have flaws. No one is 100 percent pure. The films I’m doing are closer to reality. So far, people have been seeing ‘good’ heroes who can do no wrong. Each film I do has a different story to tell,” he says. Tovino’s new film Theevandi is currently enjoying a good run at the box office. His previous film Maradona also did well.
He has Oru Kuprasidha Payyan coming out in October, and is filming Salim Ahamed’s And the Oscar Goes To, in which he plays a struggling filmmaker. He is very optimistic about the way the latter film is shaping up and says it’s “a story that every aspiring filmmaker will relate to”. Apart from these, Tovino has a supporting role in actor Prithviraj’s directorial debut Lucifer. He is also slated to appear as a police officer in Kalki and as the primary antagonist in the Tamil film Maari-2, starring Dhanush. The latter character, he says, is not an ordinary villain. “Concerns about me being stereotyped will change once you see the films,” he says.