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Acting isn’t as simple as it seems, whether in real life, on camera, or for an audience. It’s not just about pretending; it is also about making others believe something is true — be it an emotion, a piece of information or a character. The best actors are those who seamlessly embody a diverse range of characters, ensuring viewers fully engage with the story, and thus, disappear into their roles without a glitch, leaving behind their true selves.
But what if an actor has to portray a character based on their public persona, encompassing all the misconceptions and rumours, surrounding them? Let’s put it this way, what if an actor has to play an exaggerated version of their public persona? How much of their true self should they reveal during performance? Should they treat it as a character or an extension of themselves? What if audiences mistake the portrayal for reality? Should they trust their instincts or be hyper-aware to avoid further misconceptions? As bugging as all the questions may sound, our legendary actors — Mammootty, Kamal Haasan and Shah Rukh Khan — have tried their hands at such roles and now, Malayalam actor Nivin Pauly has joined the ranks of these veterans, playing such a role in the recently released Varshangalkku Shesham.
“An exaggerated version of their public persona” doesn’t necessarily imply that these characters bear the same name as the real-life figures. Instead, it is their traits, characteristics, lifestyles, professions maybe, demeanours, the way they respond to circumstances, and other similarities shared with real-life persons, coupled with baseless rumours about them, that constitute such characters.
In Kamal’s Azhakiya Ravanan (1996), though Shankar Das (Mammootty) is not a film star, the character embodies nearly all the features and traits commonly associated with Mammootty. Shankar Das is arrogant, narcissistic, pompous, a braggart, always seen wearing shades, shallow and a favouritist. People who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s can confirm that these traits were widely attributed to Mammootty, regardless of whether those who propagated this image had ever met the actor in real life or not. Yet, almost everyone wished to believe this, as this perception helped explain why Mammootty was not like Mohanlal — playful and jovial. Since being introverted was not seen as acceptable for film stars (according to non-celebrities), these traits became associated with Mammootty’s public image within no time and no one cared much to check how much of this was true. However, for the actor, this presented a significant opportunity in the form of a character that was well-layered and a screenplay with enough potential to captivate the audience with its romantic and dramatic elements.
Penned by Sreenivasan, who has been close to Mammootty since the beginning of their careers and hence would know the different shades of the star’s real self, the first shot featuring the actor in Azhakiya Ravanan depicts him sporting a safari suit, sunglasses and smoking a pipe, exuding arrogance in every gesture. In every subsequent shot, both the writer and director capitalise on Mammootty’s public persona to the maximum extent, with the actor seamlessly embracing self-mockery while delivering an outstanding performance, skillfully avoiding any tendency to become over the top.
Shankar seldom misses an opportunity to boast about himself and consistently believes that everyone admires him because of his wealth and good looks. To further mirror Mammootty’s public persona, the film depicts him venturing into the film industry as a producer. It was often rumoured that Mammootty used to interfere with scripts and request changes as he saw fit. In a satirical nod to this, the film includes a scene where producer Shankar Das suggests using a track he created instead of the composer’s original, and even hums the tune of “Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan” from Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker (1970), evoking applause only from his aide. Yet, at no point does one feel that they are watching Mammootty as the actor seamlessly embodies the character of Shankar Das, infusing it with his own quirks to elicit more laughter.
In Ramesh Aravind’s Uttama Villain (2015), Kamal Haasan, who also penned the script, elevated the work to a semi-autobiographical level by drawing heavily from his own life experiences rather than relying on rumours about him. The narrative revolves around Manoranjan (Kamal), a popular Tamil actor trapped in a loveless marriage and under the control of his powerful father-in-law, also a producer, making him star in mindless films for his own benefit. Kamal himself has admitted to once being in love with veteran south actor (late) Srividya, a sentiment she also shared, although their relationship did not lead to marriage due to opposition from her mother and communication breakdowns between the couple. Since then, Kamal has had multiple relationships, none of which lasted. Uttama Villain appears to acknowledge Srividya as his one true love through the character of Yamini, depicted as Manoranjan’s long-lost girlfriend.
Despite the film’s shortcomings in making, it delves deeply into Manoranjan’s guilt, intensified by Kamal’s outstanding portrayal. Just like his real self, Manoranjan is depicted as having experienced multiple dysfunctional relationships, exacerbating his existing anguish over losing Yamini. Kamal took it a step further by including his real-life mentor, ace director K Balachander, in the project, playing the role of a filmmaking legend named Margadarisi. Just as Balachander guided a young, clueless Kamal in cinema, Margadarisi (meaning, “the guide”) leads Manoranjan towards immortality by directing a film featuring him, upon learning of his battle with a life-threatening disease, ensuring his lasting legacy in the minds of viewers.
While Kamal avoided depicting his political stances, making the film not entirely autobiographical, he placed his life and self under scrutiny, creating a character based on himself and not shying away from portraying his flaws and mistakes.
Not only is his character’s name Aryan, the same as his real-life son, and the surname Khanna bears a resemblance to his actual surname, Khan, but Shah Rukh Khan’s superstar role in Maneesh Sharma’s Fan (2016) mirrors quite a few aspects of the real star.
Much like SRK, the film portrays Aryan as a Delhi-born person who moved to Mumbai, given Bollywood’s base there. Interestingly, the film even utilises Shah Rukh Khan’s own residence, Mannat, as Aryan Khanna’s house, and depicts familiar scenes such as fans gathering outside SRK’s bungalow. By incorporating old footage of Shah Rukh, Maneesh ensures the smooth blending of reality and fiction. Furthermore, the film also depicts an instance of Aryan getting into a fight with another star during a birthday party, and who can forget the infamous rumour from the late 2000s that SRK and Salman Khan had a similar altercation at a party?
Adding to the intrigue, Shah Rukh, in a dual role, also plays one of the star’s ardent fans, Gaurav, akin to the thousands out there in real life willing to go to any length to prove their love for SRK.
In a striking shot, the fan Shah Rukh sets fire to all the posters of his idol Shah Rukh using a matchstick drawn from a packet with Shah Rukh’s face on it. The film also underlines that a star is only as good as they are loved by their fans, and who better to underscore this than one of the biggest superstars in the world who cracked his way into show business without any prior connections? Aryan is also depicted as a star with a wax statue at Madame Tussauds and who performs at weddings, mirroring the real-life SRK. What makes the character even trickier for Shah Rukh is that the film shows Aryan as somewhat of an arrogant star, a trait some might associate with the actual star if the portrayal goes wrong. Yet, SRK tackled the role with utmost care, delivering a remarkable performance as the star, though his performance of the fan fell short.
With his character Nithin Molly in Vineeth Sreenivasan’s Varshangalkku Shesham, Nivin Pauly delivers a performance that matches the boldness of the aforementioned legends. As an outsider who entered the field with no backing, Nithin, he says in the film, faced “caucus, belt, groupism, favouritism, and nepotism”. Yet, they both rose above their peers with sheer talent, becoming one of the biggest stars in the industry at one point. Much like Nivin Pauly himself, who has been experiencing a difficult period with several flops, Nithin too is shown to have hit rock bottom. However, the film exaggerates these aspects to present the character with a caricatured image, portraying him as indifferent and disillusioned with life itself and filmmakers, approaching everything solely for financial gain.
However, when given the opportunity to work with a skilled filmmaker who recognises his abilities and limitations, Nithin quickly adapts and dedicates himself to the project. Drawing traits from Bigg Boss Malayalam fame Robin Radhakrishnan, often criticised as loud and dramatic, Varshangalkku Shesham further caricatures the real Nivin Pauly. Despite the potential risks of such an exaggerated portrayal, Nivin ensures a stellar performance, serving as the sole redeeming factor in an otherwise tiresome movie that is Varshangalkku Shesham.
Additionally, by addressing unfair criticisms about his weight and cleverly responding to them on screen, Nivin, along with the writer-director Vineeth, blurs the lines between reality and fiction, adding another memorable character to Malayalam cinema.
Playing such characters demands a high level of self-awareness and the willingness to see, assess, understand and unapologetically admit one’s flaws openly. With sheer dedication to cinema rather than their stardom, which has indeed inflated the egos of many “superstars” leading to their massive downfall as seen nowadays, Mammootty, Kamal, Shah Rukh and Nivin have, by playing such characters, set the bars high for all their peers and aspirants too. As Gaurav told Aryan in Fan, “Main hoon, toh tu hai,” or in other words, “A star exists only as long as fans do,” let’s hope that stars begin prioritising substance over ego and stardom, embracing roles that challenge them and elevate their craft.
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