Subin Joseph has pain and innocence etched to his face. Frail and ailing, he walks the halogen-lit rooms of a star hospital with obvious unease. If ‘Apothecary’ makes a gut-wrenching watch, Jayasurya’s cancer patient is the first to evoke the effect, tugging your heart strings until it hurts. “It was the most upsetting role I ever played,” says the actor who is basking in the compliments for his real and restrained portrayal.
Madhav Ramadasan’s conscience-pricking drama is set in a world where greed has overtaken the Hippocratic Oath - a high-end hospital. The film is not about medical negligence, but a brutal malpractice where unsuspecting patients are subjected to drug testing. The actor adds ‘Apothecary’ was a fulfilling experience for him in more ways than one. “This morning a doctor called up and said he and his colleagues were being forced to do the same. He said they couldn’t gather the courage to revolt earlier but after watching ‘Apothecary’ they have decided to confront the authorities. If the film could affect and mend the mind of a single doctor I consider it a feat,” he says.
Jayasurya says it was not easy stepping into the shoes of a hapless villager who becomes a guinea pig in the hands of medical mafia. “I was a complete wreck, I went through all the physical and emotional woes of Subin. Each day I woke up with a splitting headache and bleeding mind. It was like a total metamorphosis, Subin was not a character who would leave you with ‘cuts’ and ‘pack ups’.”
‘Apothecary’ is a film devoid of any mainstream gimmick, no seasoning or garnish to keep the box office abuzz. Jayasurya confesses he didn’t expect the film to be a moolah maker, “At first I was taken aback by the full house boards. I signed the film because I felt a deep emotional connect with the character, but I wasn’t prepared for this incredible feedback. But the film was accepted by the masses, and I am happy about the fact that its audience is not just limited to a particular section or class. The best part about the commercial success is that it will instil certain courage and confidence in others to come up with such hard-hitting themes,” he says.
Jaysurya says he had invested a long string of days in the film ‘because the script demanded it’.
“Thinning down was just a part of it and I lost nearly 13 kilos and tonsured my head for the film. Then it took me more than a month to gain back my weight so that I can take up other films,” he smiles. The actor also seems to have his schedule book full with a slew of projects in the pipeline. He will be next seen in Amal Neerad’s ‘Iyobinte Pustakam’ where he has an interesting role. “I play a character called Ankur Ravuthar and I am not allowed to divulge more details about the film,” he says. Also on the anvil are Priyadarshan’s ‘Amayum Muyalum’, ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri’, ‘Mathai Kuzhappakaranalla’ and ‘Adu’.