The last time Vinay Fort left an indelible mark as an actor was in Premam where he played the goofy lecturer Vimal. But move over and make way for Sub-Inspector Ajay C Menon. In Shanavas K Bavakkutty’s Kismath, Vinay appears as a police man with darker shades. His cop might be a cliche with a larger-than-life aura, but the actor that he is, Vinay gives it a very realistic touch.
Upbeat over the success of Kismath, Vinay Fort tells City Express how he gave life to Ajay C Menon.
The character
After Shutter, this is one character where I got to explore my talent as an artist. Unlike in Premam where ‘Vimal sir’ was actually the director’s contribution, Ajay C Menon came to me just as a sketch. The crew, including director Shanavas, gave me the freedom to give life to him. I did the characterisation.
Ajay C Menon is a policeman who is not really passionate about his job. He works because he has to. There is nothing that pushes him. He is surrounded by everything dark. That reflects on him and the rude behaviour is his defense mechanism to exist in that dark and dingy world.
I think the audience too expect Ajay to be that way and that is one reason why the character turned a success.
The hardwork
I knew much before the movie was to release that this one would give me an edge as an actor. I wanted to as the amount of hard work I put for the work was immense. I gained extra weight as I had to be convincing. Yes, I know cops who are lithe and not well-build, but people have this larger-than-life perception about police and I decided to stick to it.
About Kismath
The biggest fear I had about Kismath was whether it would suffer in theatres as it came sans much hype and crowd-puller faces. But, it is euphoric to know that the movie is doing well. It had a politics associated with it and the message has reached the audience. The movie came without any buzz, except for Facebook promotions. It is a great sign that the Malayalam industry is changing and good movies are welcomed. We have a lot of talents here and it is a message that a big hero is not really necessary to make a movie a success. I think it is a wonderful time to be in movies.
Coming next..
My next work is Godse, which I pin a lot of hope on. My character is a radio announcer and is an alcoholic, but there is a twist in the tale. We are looking for a distributer and the movie might hit the theatres this Onam. There there is Avarude Ravukal, a total fun movie.