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00:00Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor.
00:09Today we have Indian actor Kunjako Bauban, who's enjoying the success of his latest psychological
00:15thriller called Bougainvillea in Dubai. And I saw you in a very different avatar, I have
00:20to say. He was known as the chocolate boy of Malayalam cinema, and then he did a complete
00:24U-turn on us. Perhaps you need to tell us. Bougainvillea really took me by surprise and
00:29your troubled role. I'm so happy to hear that, and know that even you and the audience
00:35seeing the movies are accepting in that sense. You know, the romantic chocolate image has
00:41been haunting me for years, maybe decades and all. So, getting off from that image and
00:47doing different kind of roles which excite people, entertain people, and keep them guessing
00:52what is going to happen next, that gives me the kicks. And I'm enjoying that freedom,
00:57that new leash of life I'm having in the film these days.
01:01I know, I know. I have to tell you, he started his career with a movie called Aniyati Praval,
01:06which was like the most romantic movie. It ruined romance for us forever. So the movie
01:10just said, even if you fall in love, if you don't have your parents' consent, you can't
01:14be happy. I'm telling you. And everybody who fell in love against parents' wishes were
01:19like, boy, why would you do that to us?
01:20You have to rethink and go back to the parents again and ask for their consent and come back
01:26and love again, fall in love again.
01:28Thoughts and people's likes differ from ages to ages.
01:33Right.
01:34And those days, maybe later on, people might think that was a bit cringe, like,
01:40cliche things happening. But then, even nowadays, we go and try out different kinds of movies
01:48with varied ideas and daring ideas. Maybe that will feel like a cliche thing maybe after
01:54five years or ten years.
01:55True.
01:56So we keep on changing. And as an actor, we try to change with the changing trends.
02:03And we always want to move and try to keep people guessing what's going to happen next.
02:10And that gives us the energy to be fired up for different kinds of roles and different
02:16kinds of movies. So then Romantic Hero, Tag, or maybe a different take on the romance,
02:22fall in love with the consent of your parents. And later on, maybe it doesn't matter at all.
02:28People's ideas change, their views about their love, maybe their life changes.
02:33Right.
02:34And we move on with the trend.
02:36I don't think an Anyathi Prabhu would fly today, honestly.
02:39When people around me are all like, you know, should we even marry?
02:42You know what I mean? It's more about that, right?
02:45You know, if you take films like Niram or even Premilu, maybe after 10 or 15 years,
02:54those films might also feel like cringe.
02:58But Boganvilla, really, you push the envelope. Kunjako, you were seen in a never-seen-before avatar.
03:04In fact, I think many people would have seen the movie, right? We can give the plot away a bit.
03:08It's not such a real suspense element.
03:11Yes, yes. The thing is, he plays a very disturbed husband and also, you know,
03:17with very, very criminal tendencies inside him.
03:20But he comes across as this gentleman. That's what I loved about your role.
03:24The fact that you seem like the ultimate husband at first,
03:27and then we realize you're really Fifty Shades of Grey and more.
03:30So, what was that like? Why did you say yes to the role?
03:33You know, like, nowadays, if you see particularly about the Malayalam film industry,
03:39we have been giving movies which deal with subjects or ideas which are a bit daring, to say so.
03:48And all kinds of movies in different genres. You start with Brahma Yuga, to say so.
03:55It's a black and white movie. It's a horror movie.
03:57It's a beautiful movie.
03:58And it was done by a thespian, a legend.
04:02Then we had Premaloo. Entirely different take.
04:05A comic, rom-com thing. Almost newcomers, new faces.
04:10Yes, yes.
04:11Recent movie actors.
04:13Then we have Adi Jeevitham, a survival thriller.
04:16Then there is Manjumal Bose.
04:18So, you name it, we have that kind of movies, or Kaadhal,
04:22which had a very sensitive take on an idea of relationships and all.
04:28Very true.
04:29And you can see all the kind of actors, whether it's a junior, senior, contemporaries,
04:33everyone is trying their hands at trying something novel, something daring, different.
04:39And all the movies have been accepted by the audience, not only in theatres,
04:44I mean, not only in OTT, but in theatres as well.
04:46Yes, yes. They want something new.
04:48And they want to have the theatrical experience of different things that's happening around them.
04:52Or maybe experience a new idea in a theatrical experience mode.
04:58So, Malayalam film industry, in that sense, is going to a golden era, to say so.
05:03Yes.
05:04And we are lucky. I mean, the present breed of actors are too lucky
05:08that we have such kind of, you know, different, exciting ideas, or different movies,
05:15and that platform which supports the theatrical platform, OTT platform, you name it, we have it.
05:20That kind of things give us the courage to try different things.
05:25Coming to Royce, Royce Thomas, in Bougainvillea, for me, it was a different take.
05:29And I had to do it.
05:31You always try to attempt to try out different characters in different movies.
05:36So, when Royce came my way, I didn't have to think twice.
05:40Just go for it.
05:41And we have an Amal Neerath movie in my hand, and who wouldn't want to miss that opportunity?
05:46This is also a departure for Amal Neerath, who is known for style, right?
05:49Even the way he pours water, there's a bit of side effects.
05:53It's very stylized. This one was not so stylized.
05:56It was far more basic, far more darker, right?
05:59I mean, he has darker characters, but it was not like you did not have a slo-mo shot, etc.
06:03I had a slo-mo shot.
06:04Yes, yes. There's one.
06:07That's very little. For him, it's almost like zero.
06:10But what was your take while you were doing it?
06:13Were you in a dark zone?
06:15Like, I remember talking to actors who say after they reach, it becomes so difficult for them to snap out of it.
06:20Did you go back home a bit dark and disturbed?
06:22I did a movie called Ariyipur.
06:24While doing that movie, I was almost in that zone.
06:27It was too dark, too disturbing for me.
06:30We had shot in real locations in North India and all.
06:34While doing Bhogein Vila, you know, it was a fictional character.
06:37And it was a fictional take on a novel.
06:39The novel was too gory that we couldn't reciprocate the exact feel in the movies.
06:49Because it would have gone overboard.
06:52So, we had to shave it a bit off, stylise it and soften it up a bit.
06:58Make it vanilla?
06:59No, not vanilla. Vanilla chocolate.
07:02Vanilla chocolate, definitely. It's quite disturbing.
07:04My friend who saw it, was like, she couldn't sleep that night.
07:07And because I watch Criminal Minds, CSI and all of those series at night,
07:11I'm very desensitised.
07:13But it is still disturbing.
07:14For a Malayalam movie, I thought...
07:16That's the exciting part.
07:18I was not disturbed during the character.
07:20But the audience who saw the movie was disturbed
07:23by the intensity of the characters or the storyline.
07:26And that matters more.
07:27Compared to the movies prior to Bhogein Vila,
07:31Bhogein Vila is, as you said earlier, a bit different.
07:34From the kind of making.
07:35It has a kind of style.
07:38But a style which is in gel or in track with the storyline.
07:42It doesn't go overboard or exaggeration.
07:45Nothing like that.
07:46It has a storyline which can confuse people.
07:49And make them think again and again.
07:52There is the beginning shot.
07:55Where I'm driving in a car and Jodi is sleeping in the car.
08:00With her head on my shoulders.
08:02And the reason why that shot is taken like that,
08:07is explained in the very last scene.
08:10Why is it? It is so.
08:12So that's the kind of link that certain shots have.
08:16And you have to go back again and see why it was shot like that.
08:20Why the characters behave like that.
08:23Why was the dialogue mentioned, I mean said like that.
08:27So all the syndicates were there.
08:29And I think this movie is one movie in which
08:32Amrita had to be extra careful.
08:35And use extra brain.
08:38And in that way he did a very clean job.
08:44A great job.
08:45That is why when people say that they get disturbed
08:48or they get the goosebumps when the character changes
08:54or some things like that.
08:55And that says the effect of the movie on the people.
08:58That's true.
08:59And also the movie dealt with very serious themes.
09:02Like child sexual abuse,
09:04to violence against women
09:07and just plain brutal killings etc.
09:10Were you at any point telling Amal Neerath,
09:13let's not go overboard
09:14because you also have an image to maintain maybe or no?
09:17Or as an actor you said you toned it down from the novel
09:20which is far more gory and violent.
09:21Did you tell him maybe not to?
09:23Because we knew that the novel couldn't be made
09:27in an exact manner for the theatre people.
09:32Because then the censorship would have been too brutal on us.
09:35We had to mellow it down a bit
09:37so that even the family can come in and watch it,
09:40get entertained in a different manner
09:42and understand what to do and not to do.
09:45At a certain point they have to think about that.
09:48And if those points which we mentioned
09:51or dealt in the movie are being discussed
09:56that proves how the movie has hit the target audience.
10:01You know what I thought about the movie?
10:02At no point did your character be humanised too much.
10:06That you kind of sympathise with him.
10:08Sometimes what happens in many movies
10:10is you kind of start rooting for the bad person,
10:13the villain etc.
10:14Here you still root for the woman, right?
10:16So do you think that's something that you kept in mind as well?
10:20The idea is not to humanise somebody really disturbed
10:24and terrible.
10:26After watching the movie,
10:27it was the first instance where my family clapped when I was slapped.
10:34My mother didn't see that her son was getting beaten up
10:38or my sister didn't see that her brother was the guy who was getting beaten up.
10:43She clapped.
10:45So that tells in what manner we wanted the character to be moulded
10:51or in which manner the film should be given to the audience.
10:55So in that sense, I think we hit the jackpot or hit the target precisely.
11:03And that proves that all the bad things
11:06or even if the protagonist is playing the antagonist,
11:10he doesn't have always to be justified.
11:14That's the thing.
11:16You can be cranky, you can be mad.
11:19But it's your childhood trauma that kind of led to it, right?
11:22There is an explanation as to why he became...
11:24He's not pure evil for the sake of being evil.
11:27There is, but we didn't dwell too much on that.
11:31He was, even then after that,
11:34had a fixation on his grandfather.
11:38Would you call this your career's darkest film that you've done so far?
11:42I think you haven't gone this bad.
11:45Not this bad.
11:46Right, and you have a very nice face.
11:49You look like a guy who won't do harm to gentle people.
11:52You look like a regular bloke, right?
11:54Some people, when they saw the movie, my friends,
11:56who knows me inside out,
11:58they said that in the beginning,
12:01there is an instance where I beat Jodhi
12:06for another reason, for a genuine reason.
12:08So they thought, okay, he will be the villain.
12:10But then I turned out to be a very caring husband.
12:15Yes.
12:16Consoling and sweet husband thing.
12:21And they said, okay, no, he won't be.
12:23Then again, when the character arc changes,
12:26playing with the audience's mind,
12:28even for the people who knows me inside out,
12:31taking them for a ride,
12:33that gives me the thrills.
12:35Yeah, of course. No, no, it was very interesting.
12:37It was one of the movies where you kept eternally guessing
12:39whether are you really the bad guy?
12:41Because he seems like a good guy.
12:43Even your climax scene that you just spoke about,
12:45where women kind of team up,
12:47I think that was quite empowering.
12:49It was so gratuitous to see you being beaten up.
12:51Like your mom. I'm with her.
12:53Totally.
12:54Like three women gang up, you know.
12:56It's almost like that scene where she just gets up
12:58and she says...
13:00Karma comes back to you.
13:02Only after that it's said that
13:04how many girls he had seen,
13:06you know, like, doing all the sort of...
13:08So he had a pattern to his behavior.
13:11And you don't have to justify him.
13:13How can you justify what all
13:15about the deeds he has done?
13:17There is no justification.
13:19So he has to face it.
13:21He has to bear it.
13:22What was most scary?
13:23Dancing towards the end or killing people on screen?
13:25Dancing towards the end.
13:28He breaks into a dance along with Jyotirma.
13:30And I was like, what?
13:34It was a promo song which was shot
13:36after the entire movie was wrapped up.
13:39But we wanted to
13:41place it in a niche way.
13:45Which will cater to the
13:47Gen Z kids and all.
13:49Because the kind of dance,
13:51the kind of movements, choreo
13:53that we see now,
13:54is entirely different from the kind of dance
13:56or movements which we had been doing.
13:58Especially me.
13:59People call me a dancer.
14:01I'm good in dance and all.
14:02But the kind of dance steps
14:04which I did for this movie is
14:05not at all my forte.
14:09Me and Jyoti,
14:10she is an excellent dancer.
14:12But even then,
14:13we both had to start from scratch.
14:15We had to start from A, B, C, D.
14:17We started very slowly.
14:19Taking all the steps.
14:21Small steps.
14:22All the hook steps.
14:24Very slowly.
14:25Then I paced it up, paced it up.
14:27Then at last we...
14:28How long did you take to master those
14:30hook steps that have now become a viral
14:32meme and it's going around.
14:34I have been in this industry for like 27 years.
14:37I've got so many hit songs to my credit, luckily.
14:41So many good dance numbers.
14:43Yes, you do.
14:44But this was the first instance
14:46where I had an opportunity
14:48to rehearse the dance steps.
14:50Otherwise, I would have been,
14:52you know like,
14:53go straight to the location.
14:55I might be hearing the songs for the first time
14:58when I come to the location.
15:00Learn the dance steps there.
15:01On the go.
15:02Yes, there.
15:03And do it on, like that only.
15:05But this time we had an ample time.
15:08And we rehearsed for like 6-7 days.
15:11It showed on the screen as well
15:13that you guys were all in sync.
15:15Not easy.
15:16With Jyotirmay, I thought,
15:17what an interesting casting.
15:19I didn't see you guys together at all.
15:21Did you also tell Amal Neerad?
15:22And it's Amal Neerad's wife.
15:23Okay, it's nepotism at its best.
15:25But she's an amazing actress.
15:27So I have to give it to her.
15:28This is impossible.
15:29You can't deny her the body of work.
15:31She's good in the movie.
15:32But what did you tell?
15:33Did you ask Amal, really, your wife?
15:36Or what was your reaction when you realized?
15:38She's back to the screen
15:40after almost a gap of 11 years.
15:42And we had actually done films together.
15:44And we did a dance program once.
15:49Like 16 or 15 years back.
15:51Alright, okay.
15:52That was it.
15:53But then while doing this character,
15:56when Amal said that Jyoti is going to do this character,
16:00I said, wow, that's something interesting.
16:02And I just wanted to see how he would do the makeover for her.
16:09After seeing the movie,
16:10we cannot see another person in her character.
16:13Jyoti Savithar is something which has been amazing,
16:17splendid, and she has done a very good job.
16:20You also know that Malayalam cinema,
16:22we do the best movies ever when it comes to content.
16:24But there's also a lot of chatter about what's happening outside of it.
16:27On the movie sets, how are women treated, etc.
16:30How do you, as an actor who has been around for this long,
16:33perceive the chatter that's happening in that domain as well?
16:36Where there is discrimination against women.
16:39What do you think of reforms?
16:41Should there be reforms?
16:42The thing is, I have been raised in a family
16:45in which I have seen very strong women in my life.
16:50Starting from my grandmother, my mother, and even my wife.
16:55So, I know how it is to have a strong woman by your side.
17:00I have been fortunate to be in movies
17:03in which so many heroines have made their comebacks.
17:07Like Shalini.
17:09When Anita Prabhu was done, she was a child artist.
17:13So it was her first movie as a heroine.
17:15Launchpad, yeah.
17:16Then How Old Are You happened with Manju.
17:20And fortunately in Bhagyanvilla, Jyothi is coming back, making a comeback.
17:24These films are not intentional.
17:26It happens.
17:27And when I get excited by a movie,
17:29it doesn't matter whether it's a heroine-oriented,
17:32or I'm playing a good or a bad character, things like that.
17:35Shooting sets as well, I have a very good rapport
17:38with all my colleagues, co-actors.
17:41Male or female, it doesn't matter at all.
17:43And I don't know how people are treated
17:48outside my domain, outside my area of control.
17:53But if things have happened in a very bad manner,
17:57bad way, those guilty persons should be punished.
18:01There's no other question about it.
18:03The thing is that nowadays people come back and say,
18:06oh, things are simply like that.
18:08Yeah, it's been tarnished.
18:09The industry has been tarnished, for sure.
18:11That's too unfortunate.
18:13Certain people, they haven't done anything wrong,
18:18and they haven't been given a bad name.
18:22They suffer, their families suffer, their lives suffer.
18:26And if it's not justified, how will you balance that?
18:32You as an actor, I think, have been very responsible
18:34when it comes to the way you perceive,
18:37because you're a role model.
18:38You can't say things...
18:39Do you think that, as a public figure,
18:41you can't say things like,
18:43me too is a fad, and things like that.
18:45People follow you, right?
18:47Do you feel, as a sense of responsibility,
18:49to say the right things?
18:50No, no. You should.
18:51You should stand by the right things.
18:53If you are right, say it.
18:55Say it often. Say it right.
18:56Say it with a strong mind, strong voice.
18:59You will face pressures from different sides,
19:02but ultimately the truth will win.
19:05And you just go by that.
19:07You don't have to make up stories if you want to say a lie.
19:10You have to make up stories.
19:11You have to think what I say.
19:13Now, if I am saying the truth,
19:15I don't have to brood too much,
19:17or think too much,
19:18or plan too much.
19:19I can just say what it is.
19:21Kunja, you come from a producer family.
19:23Did that help you, though?
19:24You can afford to be choosy, etc.
19:27Your movie choices are so different
19:29from usual actors, I feel.
19:31Like, I don't know what you'll do next,
19:32which is an amazing thing.
19:33It was not at all like that.
19:36Really?
19:37You were just given romantic roles?
19:39Yeah, it was like that.
19:41From 1970 to 2005,
19:43that was my first phase in the industry.
19:45And it was all romantic films.
19:48Everything like that.
19:49Chocolate, boy next door, things like that.
19:52And I got bored.
19:53The audience got even more bored.
19:56And it was like that.
19:57My characters were not getting accepted.
19:59My films failed.
20:00The producers were blaming me.
20:03You were written off, I think, at some point.
20:05Yeah, I was okay.
20:06That's it. End. Pause.
20:08Then, after that,
20:09after maybe two years of hiatus,
20:11I came back and I was starting from zero.
20:14I tried different kinds of roles,
20:16small roles, cameo roles,
20:17extended cameo roles, supporting roles.
20:20All the roles were different.
20:22That mattered.
20:23I was trying my hand in different kinds of appearances,
20:26different kinds of roles,
20:28different kinds of movies.
20:30So whether my character was this or that,
20:32small or big, laid back,
20:34or in the forefront,
20:35it didn't matter at all.
20:37I just wanted to be trying my hand
20:40in different kinds of roles,
20:41different kinds of characters and movies,
20:43which entertained people.
20:45And here I am in a golden phase of Malayalam industry
20:49where so many exciting and tiring subjects
20:52and characters are happening.
20:54And we, the actors, current actors,
20:58are having a very good time.
21:00We have to grab the opportunities
21:02before anyone else comes and grabs it.
21:04So it's that exciting phase in Malayalam industry
21:06that we are going through and enjoying.
21:08Right, I love it.
21:09Kunjaku, thank you so much for experimenting.
21:11You have really evolved.
21:12Like you said, from Aniyathi Praval Days
21:14to an Amal Neerath film
21:15where you're really a very, very, very
21:18brutally terrible person.
21:20There's absolutely no redemption for this man,
21:23really, in the movie.
21:24But you did it and people have accepted you.
21:27That's such a heartening thing, right?
21:29That's what I said to the audience
21:31and people who knew me inside.
21:33My mother,
21:34two days back she came from Muscat
21:36and I went to receive her.
21:37She saw the movie in Muscat.
21:39So when I went to receive her in the airport,
21:42the first thing that she said when she met me
21:44was, hey, my villain son.
21:46That's how she greeted me.
21:49She's enjoying your face
21:50and I think your family too.
21:52But you've done so well
21:53and you've entertained us.
21:55And things never stop to surprise us.
21:57Thank you so much for entertaining us.
22:04You're welcome.