THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four decades later, N Abdul Rasheed aka Phayalvaan Rasheed still remembers how ace filmmaker P Padmarajan tried to lift him after filming a major fight sequence and they both fell in the mud.
The incident took place on the sets of Oridathoru Phayalvaan (1981), one of Padmarajan’s critically-acclaimed creations. The movie will be screened at the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) on Tuesday.
Rasheed played the pivotal phayalvaan (wrestler) in the film. It marked his debut. He is one of the very few cast and crew members alive today. Rasheed came to know about the screening when TNIE tracked him down after an extensive search.
However, he is okay with not being invited to IFFK.“I am happy they are screening my movie. I am not very active in film circles so it’s no wonder I was not invited,” said Rasheed, who ives in Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram. Rasheed was around 35 years old when he portrayed the ‘gatta gusthi’ wrestler who becomes a local hero by defeating his opponents and claiming the prettiest woman in the village as his wife. Scoring a role in the iconic movie is one of the treasured memories of Rasheed, who was the coach of the Transport department wrestling team at the time.
“I was a light heavyweight wrestler and we won a contest in Kannur. It was reported in the papers. Padmarajan had been looking for a real-life wrestler to act in the movie. Still photographer and actor N L Balakrishnan, my friend, suggested my name. Balakrishnan then came to my home and told me that Padmarajan was waiting outside. They had come in a Fiat car. Padmarajan was waiting at a distance so that he could watch my way of walking and decide whether I fit the bill,” recalls Rasheed.
Rasheed had to shave off his beard and moustache for the role. “Immediately after the meeting, the three of us went to Veli. Padmarajan wanted to see my swimming skills. I had done theatre for three years so I knew acting. After selection, I was given around one month to get into the character. The shooting took place at Kumarakom. Padmarajan was overwhelmed with the way I portrayed the character,” he said.
Forced to choose between acting and his job as assistant transport officer, Rasheed chose the latter. “My last movie was Devadasi released in 1995,” he said.