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Passionate about his roles

Ashish Vidyarthi, Bollywood actor from Thalassery, returns to Malayalam films in `Chess'

HOMEWARD BOUND National award winning actor Ashish Vidyarthi has roots in Kerala Photo: K. Gajendran

Ashish Vidyarthi has the energy of a fresher at school. With around 20 films to his credit in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada in the last four years, he is at ease in the south as he is in Bollywood. No wonder then that on the location of Raj Babu's `Chess,' he looks absolutely relaxed.

Homecoming

"It is my second film in Malayalam after `CID Moosa' and we almost have the same team here. It's just like coming back home," he says with a smile.

It is a sort of homecoming for the son of Govind Vidyarthi, who hails from Thalassery in Kerala.

"I do have roots here still, though we lived in Delhi all along. My mother is a Bengali and I can speak a bit of Malayalam."

A graduate in history from Delhi University and a National School of Drama product, Ashish shot into fame with his role as Commander Bhadra in Govind Nihalani's `Drohkaal.' The role fetched him the National award for the best supporting actor. "Drohkaal shaped me as an actor. It had opened the doors to filmdom to me; remember, it is a tough process with thousands of talented youngsters vying to make it to the silver screen. Perhaps, I was luckier among the lot."

However, Ashish dislikes the inclination to brand an actor as a villain after a few negative roles.

Typecast

"Once your role clicks, there is this tendency to classify actors into categories like heroes, comedians or villains. For me, facing the camera is almost like another day at work. Yet, it is heartening that nowadays the audience watches negative characters without any prejudices and, in fact, appreciate their roles if they stand apart. The bonus of being accepted in quite a few languages is that you can travel a lot and meet a new set of people most of the time."

Amidst all these options to pick from, how does he actually select his roles? "I choose the roles that I feel are exciting enough. Though it is the director who calls the shots on the sets, the actor's conscience would be ticking and constant improvements are being done to add on to the role, to make it look different from the rest."

And as proof of that he talks about his role in a recent Telugu film, `Pokkiri,' directed by Puri Jagannath.

"It was a thrilling experience; the director was very sure about his craft. But things need not happen like that always. You have to accept it as such once you are part of the business," he says. Three more Telugu films are in the pipeline for Ashish, of which one is with Malayali director Soorya Kiran. He is also pinning a lot of hopes on a forthcoming film with director Ringo.

Talk food and his eyes turn brighter. "I'm a total foodie, you know," winks Ashish. "Every time I come to Kochi, I make it a point to go to Mattanchery and I love the food there with fish curry. I am a great fan of aviyal too. I love spicy food and prefer to have it with less coconut oil," he says.

VIJAY GEORGE

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