It was refreshing to see Tito Wilson play a positive character -- as Tovino Thomas' best friend -- in debutant Vishnu Narayan's Maradona after two consecutive, similarly negative characters. In Angamaly Diaries, he and Appani Sharath threatened and intimidated their rivals; in Swathandryam Ardharathriyil, he was the inmate scheming to jeopardise Antony Varghese's prison break plans.
A former drama student, the Thrissur native says that a substantial role always motivates him to give his best unlike a role that doesn't offer much scope. "After Angamaly Diaries, all the roles I got were of the same kind. And since I'm not so great looking, I was not being offered anything else (laughs). I don't wish to play stereotypical roles. So Maradona was a breath of fresh air. It really helped me."
It was screenwriter Krishnamoorthy who informed him of this opportunity, adds Tito. "When we were doing Angamaly Diaries, he was an associate. He told me there is a role for me in his script and suggested I try it. Kannettan (Krishnamoorthy) has a nice way of narrating a script or a scene. He can make even a small scene sound fabulous. He was so confident of my ability to play this character. So, special thanks to Kannettan for that."
The actor says Tovino also helped him a lot. "He felt this role would do wonders for my career and that I would get noticed more. He told me that everyone who have been ignoring me all this while will start paying attention to me after this film comes out."
Tito observes that the responses so far have been very interesting. "It varies from region to region. The people in Thrissur see it in one way and the people in Palakkad see it in another. In some areas you see people laughing during the serious scenes and it can be a bit worrying."
It's a huge confidence-booster when the filmmakers put so much faith in him, says Tito. "In Angamaly Diaries, in spite of all of us being newcomers, Lijo picked actors he was confident about. The same goes for Vishnu (Maradona director). Vishnu believed that I could play a positive role even though I've done two negative roles before. And it was evident from the way these directors treat us. If they didn't think we could do pull it off, they would've have killed us with their verbal abuse (laughs)."
Was the laughter-inducing "Eyy violence no, violence no" line in Maradona his idea? "That was all Kannettan. He told me that Sudhi is someone whose English is weak, and gave me an idea of how to say that line." Tito will be next seen in a comedy-thriller titled Tanaha.