THIRUVANATHAPURAM: He conquered teen hearts with the magic of his eyes in his debut film. T K Rajeev Kumar’s Kshanakathu, the tale of love that swept youngsters off their feet, had the young hero Niyaz making a memorable outing in tinseltown in 1990. A slew of villain roles later, Niyaz says he is happy to do positive roles again in his upcoming films Christian Brothers and Sahasram.
“That gives me a much needed break from villainous roles,” he says with a laugh. “I made an easy entry into filmdom but did not know how to go about from there. After playing a role in
Sarovaram (1991), I shifted base to Dubai where I worked for six years,” Niyaz says. “Malayalam cinema went through a transition during this time and youngsters were getting prominent roles. It would have done me good had I been here at that phase.” The only film he did during his stint abroad was Dubai.
Niyaz quit his job when he finally realised that films were his calling and made a comeback of sorts as the villain of Ranjith’s Mammootty-starrer Black. “I have to thank Ranjith for convincing me to do the full-fledged villainous role. I was hesitant to take it up initially. It was nothing like an established hero doing a negative role and was risky. Thankfully, my role was appreciated.”
From thereon, negative roles flooded his career. Bus Conductor, Mahasamudram, Thaskaraveeran, Red Salute, Ayurrekha, Ore Kadal, Annarakannanum Thannalayathu... all had Niyaz playing shady characters. Ask him if the transition from playing the hero to doing villainous roles and second leads affected him and Niyaz says candidly, “Yes, it did. But Kshanakathu happened to me at a time films were the last thing on my mind. I had no background in acting and tried to imitate my favourite actor, Kamal Haasan, as much as I could! I believe everything happens for the better. I do my best in every film I do, however big or small my roles are. I consider every film a learning experience. The solo hero concept in Malayalam cinema is slowly fading away. So youngsters have much to look forward to. ”
Besides some Malayalam films that are in the pipeline, Niyaz is looking into Tamil offers as well. “I believe in destiny. Everything that’s meant for you comes to you at the right time,” he says with hope.