Facing life with a smile and a joke

Updated: September 24, 2015 11:11 IST, Source

Dileep gets candid on life’s lessons and his movie, Life Of Josutty, directed by Jeethu Joseph, releasing this week.

It was not deadly looks or machismo that helped Dileep find stardom. It was his guy-next-door looks and down-to-earth attitude that worked wonders for him. It’s that attitude that continues to sustain him at the top in Mollywood. However, life has not been all that wonderful for the actor this year. Of this three releases, Chandrettan Evideya set ting the cash registers ringing but Ivan Maryadaraman and Love 24 X 7 failed to live up to expectations. Now, all eyes are on director Jeethu Joseph’s Life Of Josutty, in which he plays the hero. In an interview on the set of Shafi’s Two Countries, Dileep opens up about the highs and lows in his life and career. Excerpts…

You have teamed up with Jeethu Joseph once again after My Boss. Is it another fun ride like your previous outing together?

The story chronicles the major happenings in the life of my character, Josutty, over a period of time. It talks about his family and also about his relationships, romance, and heartbreaks. Viewers of my films expect to be entertained, more so because Jeethu and I are teaming up again. Life of Josutty is a pretty realistic movie with a good dose of humour.

Your character in Life of Josutty goes through a lot of struggles in his youth. Did that remind you of your own struggle to get an initial foothold in cinema?

(Smiles) Well, even now, every day is a struggle, in one way or the other. And that is not just for me. All of us go through such situations. Perhaps that is why viewers are able relate to my characters.

If your character immigrates to New Zealand after his marriage in Life of Josutty, in Two Countries, your characters goes to Canada. Do the similarities end there?

If that’s so, my next film, King Liar, is mainly set in Dubai (laughs). All three films have different moods and totally different settings. Two Countries, in which I team up with Mamta Mohandas again, is set in Canada and India, hence the title. It’s also a play on the colloquial phrase, ‘country fellows’, a rather derogatory term that is used for people who are new to the so called subtleties and sophistication of urban life.

Lal directs your forthcoming film King Liar, with Siddique scripting it. How do you feel being part of the project, which reunites the popular duo?

We are aware that we will have to live up to huge expectations when the two of them team up again. It will be a fun film for sure.

After Ivan Maryadaraman failed to capture eyeballs, you seem to have shifted from your usual team to new filmmakers. Was it a conscious decision?

I’ve not taken any such decision. Let me explain. Except for Lohitadas, I have not been lucky enough to work with stalwarts such as Padmarajan or M. T. Vasudevan Nair. I have come this far with just the support of my friends. Ivan Maryadaraman was the Malayalam adaptation of a hit Telugu movie. Don’t blame its scenarists Siby K. Thomas and Udayakrishna; they are the ones who wrote hits such as CID Moosa, Maya Mohini, Twenty Twenty, Runway, Lion and Karyasthan. July 4 is perhaps the only film that we miscalculated. If I enjoy the success of my films, I am ready to accept my failures as well. I always believe that successes are accidents and huge successes are miracles.

What about Love 24X7?

At the outset, I had voiced my concerns to those behind the film that I would be a burden for the film and that they should go for a fresh face. The story diverts to a different track at a certain point and I felt that the viewers who come to see my films would find it difficult to accept it. We had faced a similar issue during Kunjikkoonan as the protagonist is not on the screen in some three reels or so. That was why I decided to do the other role in the film as well.

You have been synonymous with humour. What is your take on the kind of comedy that is currently the trend in Malayalam?

These days, there seems to be no restrictions at all when it comes to comedy. However, I feel that there are certain lines that we shouldn’t cross. Humour should be used in accordance with the place and situation. There is a certain grammar that should be maintained in comedy. Nowadays, even if that grammar is wrong, people seem to accept it.

Does it upset you that your personal issues get discussed more than your films?

Those who have liked me through my characters are intelligent enough to distinguish my personal issues from my films. My life has been an open book. The support that I received when I went through the difficult times gave me the energy to move on. I only fear God.

You are an entertainer. How tough it is to make others laugh when you are going through such personal difficulties?

I did Mayamohini, in which I played a woman, and My Boss while going through the greatest crisis in my life. I was totally distraught but I faced it all calmly, head on. What else can we do? But the positive thing is that I now know who all will be with me during a crisis and whom I can trust.

What are your forthcoming projects?

After wrapping up Two Countries and King Liar, I will be doing Rathish Ambat’s Kammarasambhavam, in which I have several looks, including that of a 94-year- old. Tamil and Telugu star Siddharth is also starring in the film. there is Sundar Das’s Welcome to Central Jail.