If treason ever had a face, it would be his. But Chandu was redeemed all his infamy by a strong and sensitive portrayal by Mammootty in 1989, the role that won him a national award. Now, stepping into the shoes of the warlord is Kunal Kapoor, the Bollywood star who plays the lead in Veeram, Jayaraj’s multilingual that hits the screens today. “Veeram has been an amazing journey and Chandu is a dream role for any actor,” says Kunal.
A fusion of folktale and Shakespeare, the film depicts Chandu as the arch-villain from Vadakkan Pattu, who, just like Macbeth, is consumed by ambition. Kunal says it’s not fair to sum up a character as intricate as Chandu in one single word - ‘traitor’. “He is a cheater, but he was also cheated by. It’s a character with so many layers and shades, he is both an honourable warrior and a ruthless tyrant.”
From Kurosawa to Vishal Bhardwaj, Macbeth was adapted on screen by a bevy of filmmakers, but Kunal’s Chandu is more of an alloy of two complex characters. ““The most fascinating aspect of Veeram is the way it weaves two most-riveting stories together, one from Malabar and the other from Scotland. It’s definitely not anything that you have seen before,” he says.
With his crimson face-paint and warrior’s garb, Kunal agrees Chandu is a break from his suave, metrosexual roles. “I was more than excited to play an anti-hero. Usually I get to play the good guys and I was really thrilled to do something I have never tried before.” Transforming into a chekavar was no ordinary task either, “obviously the film involved a lot of preparations. I was very lean and had to put on a lot of muscles. Then I had to learn the postures and technique of kalaripayatttu and there were the weapons - swords, daggers and the formidable urumi.”
Kunal says Chandu left him physically and emotionally exhausted, “physically because sometimes we were shooting twenty three hours a day and emotionally because he was so intense. But when you are enjoying the process nothing seems like a problem, it all becomes one big hearty experience.” Another challenge was shooting in three languages, Malayalam first and then Hindi and Tamil. “Usually when you shoot a scene you are over and done with it. But here I had to do it three times with subtle variations for each language. It was an enormous challenge while doing emotionally-charged scenes.”
With Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan endorsing Veeram, Kunal says he is overwhelmed by the way industry is looking forward to the film. “They have never seen me like this,” he laughs. He adds it was a great experience collaborating with Jayaraj and his team. “I am huge fan of Jayaraj sir and I have enjoyed all his previous works. Then, Veeram has crew members from across the globe and its our creative synergy that made the film possible.”
As Veeram hits the marquee today, Kunal says he is finally ready to watch Mammootty’s Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, the film that made a hero out of a traitor. ”
I intentionally avoided watching that film. When you watch such a terrific, national-award-winning performance you subconsciously tend to make it a reference point. I wanted to approach Veeram in a fresh, impartial way. But now I am going to watch Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha for sure,” he says.