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The accent is on humour

Suraj Venjaramoodu tells SAJNI V. SAHADEVAN how his Thiruvananthapuram dialect made him a star

ON CLOUD NINE Suraj Venjaramoodu has mastered the language of success PHOTO: S. GOPAKUMAR

"Enthire?" is how strangers greet Suraj Venjaramoodu, whose name by now is synonymous with the dialect native to certain places in Thiruvananthapuram. "Initially I thought they were pulling my leg but then it hit me that they genuinely enjoyed the lingo ," he says after the astounding success of `Rajamanikam.'

"It isn't just in Thiruvananthapuram. The dialect is being picked up in places as far as Kozhikode. People say `Ivan Puliyaannu ketta?' when they recognise me on the streets!" he laughs.

Dubbing artist

Once an artist in a mimics troupe in the city, Suraj used to dub for the comedy series `Jaga Poga.' It was during a rehearsal for a show in the Gulf that he saw a beard lying around on the set and while trying it on, the director exclaimed, "Just like Mammootty! You have to enact him!" The movie `Dadasaheb,' starring Mamootty (whose character had a beard), had just been released, and there's been no looking back ever since.

The programme `Comedy Thillana' was the brainchild of director Dhanwanthari who coaxed Suraj to take on the role of anchor with a flat native Thiruvanthapuram accent.

"He was convinced it would be accepted by the viewers and it held true, " says Suraj. As research for the part, he would spend time mingling with folks from Kanjiramkulam who speak with the drawl indigenous to Thiruvananthapuram.

"What I've used in `Rajamanikam' is only part of the many such phrases that are native to the capital? There are many more, but they aren't as popular so it probably wouldn't go down well with the audiences," says Suraj.

The windfall was to arrive in the guise of `Rajamanikam' - imagine his surprise when Mammootty rang him up one fine day to ask if he would assist him with the delivery of the dialogues. "I consider myself very lucky in that I got to train the same great actor whom I'd been mimicking," gushes Suraj who then went to the sets in Pollachi and trained the actor.

"Of course Mammookka learnt the accent in a jiffy. In fact, he started teaching me new phrases using the same dialect and we thought he'd end up losing his original accent!" he laughs. Suraj is now playing the same role as Mammootty's in `Rajamanikam' for the serial `Sanmanasullavarkku Samadhanam.' And to think the producer of the movie was a little apprehensive about adapting such a dialect especially with Mammootty in the lead.

"I was convinced the movie would be a hit. My point was, if a small time actor like me could do a series on television using the accent, the masses would definitely accept Mammookka doing the same!" he adds.

With the assurance of a range of roles in the 15 films that he has already acted in, Suraj is not afraid of being typecast.

The actor is happiness personified as he says, "each of my four releases for Vishu was with the four superstars of Malayalam cinema! There was `Thuruppugulan' with Mammootty, `Rasathanthram' with Mohanlal, `Rashtram' with Suresh Gopi and `Pachakuthira' with Dileep."

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