“It was from a column in one of the magazines that I came to know that Lal sir wanted a hero for Neelathaamara. I tried to send my portfolio through email, but somehow, the mail couldnot be sent. So I met Lal Jose sir directly and gave him my photos. Sir asked me whether I had any commitments. I said thet I was free. So sir asked me to grow my hair and beard. After a few days, I was asked to come to Kozhikode to meet MT sir. MT sir asked me a few questions about myself. Sir told me that he would inform me whether I was selected or not. It was at this moment that I touched his foot and seeked his blessings. I gave a screen test wearing a ‘mundu’ as my character in the movie wears ‘mundu’ almost throughout the movie. After seeing that, I was asked to loose weight.”
“Even while doing all this, I knew I was in the final stages because I was in regular contact with sir. But I couldn’t tell this to anyone incase I am not selected. Everyone wanted to know why I had grown a beard and was trying to loose weight. They thought I was having problems since I was going out of my usual self growing hair and beard as I haven’t done it all my life. It was a very strenous period in my life.”
“I came to know that the date of movie’s pooja had been fixed two days prior to it at a reception. I was shocked since if the pooja was fixed, then so would be the cast. The first thought that came to my mind was whether all my hard work had gone down the drain. The only consolation was that I could get MT sir’s blessings. It was a very unbearable day for me. The next day I called the Anoopettan, the assosiate director, and he told me to come to the movie launch and asked me to come to the pooja the next day. It somehow struck my mind that anyway I was not going to get a role and even if I get a role, it wouldn’t be the lead role since Lal Jose sir hadn’t called me. I didn’t have the guts to call sir since it would be better not calling sir rather than hearing a ‘NO’ from him.”
“Later that night, I had kept my phone at home and gone out for a few moments when Lal sir called. When I came back, I called back immediately. It was then that Lal sir told me that I was chosen to play the role of Haridas in Neelathaamara. He asked me if I was happy and I replied yes. This is how the whole process of my casting was done.”
