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Tovino Thomas clarifies Toxic rumours, reveals the secret behind Lokah’s post-credit scene
From chairs in a circle between shots to Vijayaraghavan winning the National Award mid-shoot, Tovino Thomas opens up about what made the making of Pallichattambi a different kind of experience
Tovino Thomas during promotions for Pallichattambi, which releases worldwide on April 10.
When Tovino Thomas talks about shooting Pallichattambi, the first thing he brings up is not the scale of the production or the action sequences. It is the chairs. Talking to SCREEN, he said that in between shots, instead of heading back to their vanity vans, the cast and crew would pull up chairs, sit in a circle, and just talk. It sounds like a small thing, but for a production that ran across multiple outdoor locations in an old village built partly as a set near a dam, it set the tone for how the entire shoot felt.
Tovino Thomas wouldm’t head back to his vanity van during the shoot
“We never went back to our vanity vans,” Tovino recalled. “After every shot, we would put chairs in a circle and sit and talk. It was a very beautiful experience.”
A large part of why that worked came down to director Dijo Jose Antony. Tovino was deliberate in his praise. “He was never angry on the set. Even if he was stressed or angry inside, we could not understand it. Before every shot, he would cheer everyone up. Okay, ready, superb. Let’s do it. That is how he said it.” That consistency, Tovino felt, gave the entire crew a sense that they were working toward one shared dream. “That is what Dijo did for the whole set.”
The cast itself helped, he shared, “The film brings together actors ranging from a seven-year-old child to 75-year-old Vijayaraghavan, and most of them had worked with me before.”
Tovino Thomas let go of his diet for Pallichattambi
Among those experiences, the one that stayed with Tovino most was watching Vijayaraghavan on set. The two go back to 2012, when Vijayaraghavan played his father in Tovino’s debut film ABCD. Since then, they have worked together several times, but this shoot brought something new. Vijayaraghavan won the National Award while they were still filming Pallichattambi, a moment Tovino described simply as a learning experience, in the best sense of the phrase.
The shoot also came with a physical dimension that was new to him. “Dijo wanted me to beef up a little,” Tovino said. “He wanted me to look like someone who can beat up people and throw people.” So Tovino let go of his diet restrictions. “Earlier, I used to restrict my food. So for this movie, I just let myself eat.” He spent the first half of last year on an extended travel break before filming began, moving through several countries with family and friends, eating freely and stepping away from the industry deliberately. By the time he arrived on set, he was a different build, ready for what the role demanded.
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Tovino Thomas on Toxic, Lokah post-credit scene
While on the subject of upcoming projects, Tovino also took a moment to address two things that had been doing the rounds online. He confirmed he is not part of Toxic, the Yash and Geetu Mohandas film that has been generating considerable buzz ahead of its June release.
He also cleared up a detail about Lokah Chapter 1 that had been misread by a section of fans. The character who appears in the post-credit scene of the film, he clarified, is not Maniyan. “While in the post-credit scene, if you look carefully, my hair looks different then how it is described of Maniyan,” he clarified. He will reprise his role in the Lokah universe when Lokah Chapter 2 goes into production later this year.
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