Govind Padmasoorya debuted through the 2008 art-house biopic Atayalangal, but is familiar among Malayali television audiences who had their eyes glued to the mini-screen in the evenings watching the 2014 dance reality show D4Dance on Mazhavil Manorama channel. He played significant roles in movies such as IG, Bhumi Malayalam, Daddy Cool, College Days and Varsham after Atayalangal bagged five Kerala State Film Awards. The 27-year-old is gung-ho about revisiting his “fabulous college days” at St Aloysius College, Mangalore, where he pursued his BA in English literature, Economics and Sociology.
GP explored every little opportunity that came his way at college where he donned the caps of an entertainer, performer, film-maker and more. “The college gave me more than what I expected. I came there with the mixed flavours of my schooling, which happened in both regional and international schools. From the beginning, I kept myself engaged in extracurricular activities. So I tell youngsters not to waste a single day in the campus and do whatever they want to.” The ‘calm and poised boy’ image others initially read out from his appearance, slowly hid behind the curtains with the ‘happy-go-lucky guy’ tag taking centre stage when he brought out his “manifold traits” one after the other and at times together.
No wonder he made friends and flirted around the campus, while being cautious not to commit to any relationship. The not-so-heavy workload put him at ease to enjoy college days to the fullest. “I maintained a chemistry that worked well with both boys and girls. And I had equal number of friends among both. My friends were from all departments in the college, who really made my days interesting.” He thanks this gang of friends who helped him handle troublesome situations he found himself in.
His was a name to be reckoned with in the art and culture sections in the college, for he held the charge of the College Debating Society and was the Arts Secretary as well. “At college, we had so many funny moments, last-minute problems cropping up during programmes. In the beginning, managing such situations were hard. Then, my group of friends covered them up within ourselves. This helped me let go of my inhibitions and stage fright.” This attitude and energy later became advantageous for him on television where he could find a comfortable style that put him on a platform for being himself.
While, the eventful college days were nearing a finish and the thoughts of what next was filling his mind, filmdom came calling. “Through a friend I got an invite to act. Until then my knowledge of films was limited to the light-hearted commercial Malayalam entertainers, except for an incident that made me the filmmaker of my college,” he begins to explain.
In the final-year of the course, GP along with four friends, directed a short film, For Whom It Rings?, based on the influence of a mobile phone on a person’s life, when the gizmo was just beginning to make inroads in our lives. They scripted, directed, acted, filmed and edited the movie together for which a best film award “came out of the blue”. “Our college hosted a short film festival and ours was an entry that competed with those of the professionals. Once it was adjudged the best film by a jury of prominent names, we became the filmmakers of the campus and we continued doing films and documentaries.” Following this, he studied MBA in Media and Advertisement with specialisation in films from Manipal University offered in association with Whistling Woods International campus in Mumbai.
— meera.manu@newindianexpress.com