Jayasurya's life turned literally from rags to riches when director Vinayan made him the hero of his film, Oomappenninu Uriyada Payyan. That was on the recommendation of the director's son who had seen Jayasurya anchoring a TV show.
It has been a roller coaster ride for him ever since and he has switched from solo hero projects to multi hero ones and recorded some impressive hits to his credit. His roles in some whopping hits like Swapnakkoodu, Classmates, Arabikkatha and more recently, in Chocolate, has made Jayasurya one of the most promising youngsters in the Malayalam film industry.
In this interview, Jayasurya talks about his career and of course life after the success of Chocolate.
Your latest release Chocolate is turning out to be a big hit. How do you feel about that?
Absolutely thrilled. The film has been a winner from day one and I am really happy about its success. I have an interesting role in the film -- that of a fashion designer. He is soft spoken and is unable to open up his heart to the girl whom he adores.
How was it getting back to the campus after a while?
We have thoroughly enjoyed the making of the film, mainly as the director, Shafi always makes it a point to maintain a friendly atmosphere on the sets. The film has Prithviraj, Roma, Samvritha Sunil and Remya Nambeeshan among others, playing students in a women's college. With so many youngsters in the cast, the energy level on the location was amazing.
You have found tremendous success whenever you teamed up with Prithviraj. What do you think is the reason?
(Laughs) That's true. The reason for the success could be that he chooses only good films, which makes my job easier!
On a serious note, we share a great chemistry off screen and perhaps, we have been able to carry it on to the screen as well. Films like Swapnakkoodu, Classmates and of course, Chocolate have been examples. Now, I'm doing another film with him called Kangaroo to be directed by Raj Babu.
Let me also remind you that I have been doing films with other heroes as well. I did Bus Conductor with Mammootty, Kichamani MBA with Suresh Gopi, Arabikkatha with Sreenivasan and Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan? with Indrajith and Manikkuttan.
You have made your entry into films as a hero but is now seen mainly playing roles in films with other heroes. Do you feel uncomfortable about this fact?
Let me put it this way, you have to be lucky enough to get into this world and much more lucky to remain here. Lots of actors with much better talents have failed to make an impact. What we can do then is to be careful about the kind of roles we choose. I have been receiving some spectacular roles in films with other heroes and I don't find a reason why I should not accept it.
I have found great success in my career doing multi hero projects, like my role in Classmates. My role was that of a student leader called Satheesan Kanjikkuzhy who will do anything to safeguard his ambitions.
In Arabikkatha, my character is again cunning, but is very practical as well. He knows that just being honest will not fetch you enough to live.
Now there is Chocolate. All these prove that hero or not, it is the depth of the role that matters.
Will you accept solo hero projects, if they are offered to you?
Of course, I am also doing projects as a hero in between, Changathipoocha being a recent example. Two projects, Currency to be directed by Swathi Bhaskar and Shakespeare by a debutant director are among my forthcoming films.
Did you enjoy doing the role in Classmates, which had shades of grey attached to it?
I am really proud of my role in Classmates. I was in an entirely different avatar, quite different from the nice boy next-door image that I had until then.
He is a wily and ambitious student leader, for whom getting ahead in politics is his sole aim in life. If the flashback scenes have me as a student leader, the other scenes have me playing a politician in his mid thirties. Such roles are really special to any actor and no wonder; it has brought me much appreciation as well.
How was it acting in Vinayan's Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan? which also stars two other finds by the director, namely Indrajith and Manikkuttan, in the lead?
It is like coming back home, where it all started. Indrajith, Manikkuttan and myself have been given crucial breaks by Vinayan Sir, and that took us to where we are now. We all are indebted to him.
I play Gopalakrishnan or GK, a software engineer. He is the right hand man of Hareendran, a young entrepreneur played by Indrajith.
You are also acting in some other language projects as well?
Right now I am doing the role of a police officer in a Tamil film called Chakravyooham. Though I had my own doubts about how convincing I would look as a sub inspector, once I put on the gear, it looked fine! There are other offers also happening from Tamil and Telugu as well.
