He arrived fully drenched on a rainy dusk. He had a raincoat on but his long wavy locks were wet and looked pasted to his scalp. We knew he came on a Yezdi bike, we heard the sound. He introduced himself; he looked confident. In fact, we were waiting for him, Padmarajan had told us he would sent a youngster who he felt could play the hero of our film Ulkkadal.
Director K G George, cinematographer Balu Mahendra and myself were there.
After a moment of silence, Balu said this boy is just perfect as Rahulan.
Our long search had come to an end. In fact, I had known Venu before. He was familiar to me as an announcer at the AIR, as a student of script writing and also as the son of Nagavally R S Kurup.
Though Ulkkadal was a huge success as a novel, I was suspicious about its cinematic potential. We were planning it as the first full-length campus love story. My first condition was Sobha should be Reena, the heroine. She was the heroine in my first film, Ente Neelakasham, directed by Thoppil Bhasi, for which she had won a state award. K G George readily agreed. The problem was who would play the hero. We were sure it should not be a known face.
As it turned out, Ulkkadal became a big hit. Venu Nagavally became the face of the campus hero. He set a trend. A spate of films followed; Shalini Ente Koottukari, Chillu and the like. But he was non-conceited and in the least ambitious. Therefore, he did not know how to climb up the ladder of success. He was not only a pure soul, but also straightforward and independent. I have always felt he had purposefully kept out of mainstream cinema. To swim with the tide was to compromise on ideals he held close to his heart.
Even while having drinks, which he seemed to enjoy, he was different.
Many a time I have heard that he used to foot the bill of others who had drinks with him.
When I met him last month at his home, we talked about old days. Now his only concern seem to be his son who is doing LLM. He told me his son was more interested in teaching than practising law. He felt his son was more cut out to become a teacher than a lawyer.
(Novelist, scriptwriter of Ulkkadal, Venu Nagavally’s debut film)