Anson Paul who made his acting debut with the Malayalam film KQ in 2013 couldn’t have asked for a better launch pad in Tamil. The Oozham fame made his entry in K’town with the Sivakarthikeyan-starrer Remo. Talking to CE he says, “When director Bakkiyaraj Kannan approached me for the role of the antagonist, I never thought it’s a big team. Later, I realised that Sivakarthikeyan has a huge fan-following here.
I really liked the script and signed up to act in it.” Though Anson pursued engineering, he always wanted to be an actor. “That’s why I enrolled myself in Anupam Kher’s ‘Actor Prepares’ in Mumbai. It was a great learning experience,” he adds.
The handsome actor says he started his career in Malayalam films simply because it came to him. “Films have been my passion for a long time. I believe that one should give 100% while doing any work. Though I am a Malayali, I am a Chennaiite at heart and am focused on doing more Tamil films,” he smiles.
Was he not apprehensive of doing a negative role in his first Tamil film? “I love to be somebody who I am not in real life. Moreover, in Malayalam films, I am one of those quintessential lover-boys. So, a negative role was a change,” he says. Though he loves playing the baddie, especially those that are edgy, he is open to doing something unusual and off beat. “Already four-five filmmakers have approached me with the same character, but I want to take it slow because I think the next film should be better than Dr Vishwa (the role that I played in Remo),” he laughs.
Anson couldn’t stop gushing about his experience of being associated with legendary personalities like PC Sreeram, Resul Pookutty and KS Ravikumar, pretty early in his career. “There was also a great challenge to perform as an actor. I am shy and open up to very few people. I was doubtful during the initial stages of shooting if I’d be able to pull this off. After sometime, I got into the groove,” he shares.
Anson points out that Remo has made him a more confident actor. “It taught me that I can work outside my comfort zone. It was almost like someone has broken the shell I’d created around myself. Siva, who’s a wonderful actor himself, helped me a lot. My performance shines because of him,” he grins.
Interestingly, the actor doesn’t know to read Tamil or Malayalam. Then, how did he dub for himself in Tamil for Remo? “I record the dialogues, memorise them and replicate. Once they are on my phone, I’d replay them whenever I can. That way, I practised the dialogues during my work-out sessions in the gym. People usually listen to songs, but I listen to the dialogues,” he smiles.
Anson has gotten along well with the Remo team and is confident that the they will continue being friends even after the film. Ask him what’s next and he says, “I am happy I picked up a project that appealed to me. Everyone wants to create a name in any given field. I want to be known as a talented actor, and last long. To me, script is the hero and I’d like to do either a positive supporting role next or a ‘merciless’ villain. I want to be like Prakash Raj.”