THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gopalapillai Karthikeyan, popularly known as ‘GK,’ was not just a politician of the ‘ruff-n-tough’ image. Amid his busy schedules in various roles as MLA, Minister and Speaker, he used to find time to watch movies and had good relations with the film fraternity.
Apart from the role of a spectator he had another relation with Malayalam movie industry through the Mammootty-starrer film ‘Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu’ as the protagonist of that film ‘VS’ alias V Sukumaran, played by Mammootty, was portrayed by giving certain characteristics of G Karthikeyan.
According to noted actor-film maker Balachandra Menon, who directed the movie, Karthikeyan got connected with his movie accidentally. “It was during 1990-91 that I decided to make a political movie for the first time in my career.
Though I was ready with the one-line of the story which had a politician husband and a college lecturer wife in lead roles, I had no idea about their behaviour as I was not frequently in touch with any politician. It was then that one of my friends, T M Basheer, told me about Karthikeyan as he has some similarities with my characters,” remembers Balachandra Menon.
Later, Basheer himself took Menon to Karthikeyan.
“We discussed a lot as I wanted to track down the behaviour of the politician in him. Like in my story, his wife too is a college lecturer. Politicians M M Hassan and Cherian Philip were also with us. Though the characterisation of Mammootty was based on Karthikeyan, the story was a pucca fiction piece,” Menon said.
“Post-release of ‘Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu’ he came to me and lauded my attempt as he was very happy on how I picturised the character which was ‘extracted from his life.’
He watched that movie not just because it was based on him.
He used to watch all movies and somehow he was one of the rarest film buffs from the political fraternity,” Balachandra Menon recalls adding that he was planning to invite Karthikeyan to the alumni meet of Edava Muslim High School where both of them studied in a gap of six years.