Last year, Roshan Mathew impressed with his assured act in Anurag Kashyap’s Choked. The young actor, who grabbed attention in the much-talked-about Malayalam film Moothon two years ago, now stars in Kuruthi, alongside Prithviraj Sukumaran, that streams on Amazon Prime Video from today. Roshan, 27, is also taking rapid strides in Bollywood, having signed on Alia Bhatt’s maiden production Darlings, that stars the actress along with Shefali Shah and Vijay Varma. A candid chat with Roshan.

Kuruthi is very different from the kind of films we have seen you in so far....

Yes, it’s a different kind of film compared to what I have done so far. It’s an out-and-out action thriller. It’s a fast-paced commercial movie, which is not usually my space.

I was really excited by the story, as well as by the cast. Everything was a big ‘yes’ right from the time I sat for my first narration. The only thing that I had to think of was whether Ibrahim (the character Roshan plays in Kuruthi) was going to be safe in my hands. This is a very complex part in comparison to the characters I have done till now. That was the only front on which I did some thinking... otherwise it was a very easy project to say ‘yes’ to.

As an actor, do you like to be on unsure ground when you are offered a part because that would invariably mean that you put in more effort and thought into your character?

From the work that I have done so far, I have come to the realisation that when it is a little scary, when it seems a bit challenging and when you are a little unsure, then you stand to get a really satisfying and fulfilling shoot experience out of it. It doesn’t necessarily have to happen all the time, but my best experiences till now have all come from projects where I have gone in a little scared, a little nervous.

And it’s almost always worked for you?

Almost... ‘almost’ being the key word! (Laughs)

What were the biggest challenges of being Ibrahim in Kuruthi?

Ibrahim’s current emotional state is on tricky ground. His occupation, his religion, the context that he comes in... everything is very, very different from mine. Kuruthi is the kind of film in which almost all the characters get questioned on what they stand for, where they are in life, and so on. To come across convincingly on screen, I needed to have a good grasp on the departure point, in terms of where does Ibrahim start and Roshan end. Trying to understand him was the challenging part.

Roshan with (L-R) director Jasmeet K. Reen, Shefali Shah and Alia Bhatt on the set of Darlings Sourced by the correspondent

Prithviraj Sukumaran drives Kuruthi, and you have worked with him before. The film boasts a stellar cast and crew even otherwise. Was it intimidating to be on a set like this?

It was intimidating before I got on set. Within the first two days on set, things got really comfortable. I got along with all of these people much better than I expected to, and a lot quicker than I expected to.

When I choose a film, the character is not always the priority. Sometimes, I take decisions purely based on the people I will be working with. Sometimes it’s just the story. But it’s not that the character doesn’t figure at all in the decision making. But I don’t look for anything specific. I look at how crucial my character is to the story and whether it has a fulfilling arc. It’s very subjective, almost vague....

Does the vagueness, so to speak, help your process as an actor?

Ya, I think so. I don’t like having a set pattern. I don’t have a set of questions or any specific boxes to tick when I pick up a project. Like in the case of Moothon, when Geetu (Mohandas, the film’s director) called me, I went in thinking, ‘Whatever she’s going to ask me to do, I will do it’. I like it being that way because I really wanted to work with people like Geetu Mohandas, Rajeev Ravi and Nivin Pauly. Everything that came after that was a bonus for me, like the beautiful character that my Ameer was.

The Malayalam film industry has always been very prolific, but many are now discovering some great Malayalam cinema courtesy streaming platforms. How would you explain the way the industry has really boomed in the last few years? I read a recent article which said that this is the only Indian film industry which has successfully woven the pandemic and life in the pandemic into its stories...

The last couple of years has also been when I started working... I started in 2014-15. So I agree with what you say. But from people who have worked here much longer, I have also heard how this sort of innovation in Malayalam cinema has been happening for a very long time. There were perhaps brief phases in between when things weren’t that great.

What really works for Malayalam cinema — and this is purely my understanding — is the audience, which is very receptive to experiments. You don’t necessarily need any formula in place for a movie to work with the Malayalam audience. As long as you make a good movie, no matter what it says, who is in it... it will find an audience for it. That keeps pushing film-makers here to continue going in for unconventional narratives, take risks, experiment a little, innovate a lot more.... Now that theatres are shut, Malayalam movies are getting appreciation and support from a much wider audience on streaming platforms.

Anything that’s recently come out in Malayalam cinema that you purely enjoyed as a viewer?

I loved Aarkkariyam, which is also streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It’s directed by Sanu John Varghese, who has worked as a cinematographer on many projects, and this is the first film he’s directed. It’s been one of the most immersive viewing experiences I have had in some time.

How do you prepare and keep yourself updated as an actor? Is your process purely instinctive or do you watch films and read up on cinema?

I do watch a lot of films and I do read as much as I can. I don’t necessarily do it to help my job, but because of the nature of the job, you almost always keep connecting everything to that. A book that you read, a random incident that you have witnessed by the side of the road, anybody that you have a conversation with, a film you watch... all of this is a curse as much as a blessing. As an actor, one is constantly trying to connect it to your process. Anything that you consume as art does register somewhere I think, without you even consciously trying to.

Having said that, has the global crisis we have all been battling with over the past year changed your perspective and priorities as an actor?

I have realised that in the current scenario, it’s impossible for our films to be completely apolitical. Art, in a way, does respond to what’s happening in its surroundings. Also, when a movie comes out, we have to make peace with the fact that everyone will have opinions and no one thing will seem correct to everyone. You have to brace for conversations and opinions and counter-arguments, and you can’t always be emotional about it.

As far as the pandemic and the uncertainty connected with it is concerned, I have decided to derive more and more joy out of my work. Negative experiences at the workplace or the idea of playing extremely negative characters back-to-back have, for the first time, begun to feel a little tiring. I feel like I need some positivity and that has to come from my work and my workplace.

You have now plunged headlong into Bollywood with Darlings, that stars Alia Bhatt and is also her maiden production. What’s the way forward?

I feel I am not equipped enough to be able to make a plan in an industry as unpredictable as this. The best things that have happened to me as an actor have all been unpredictable. There were no signs of it happening, and then it fell on my lap out of the blue. I do have a list of people I want to collaborate with at some point.