Jayasurya: I don't know how to maintain stardom

Jayasurya was right at the top among the young heroes in Malayalam cinema until a few years ago. In an industry where success is gauged by your last hit, he is going through a rough patch in his career.

In an effort to regain his footing perhaps, he has co-produced Punyalan Agarbathis and also plays the male lead in the film.

In a candid chat with Vijay G, Jayasurya talks about the hits and misses in his career and the kind of films he wants to make.

You and Anoop Menon had announced a couple of projects together some time back. Why haven’t you started shooting for them yet?

We are not doing any projects together right now. If we do too many projects together, people will get bored seeing us again and again.

After a while, even we get bored! Moreover, we both want to work with other directors and artistes.

There are rumours that there has been a rift between the two of you.

(Smiles) I spoke to Anoop just a few minutes ago. We are past the age of fighting over such things.

Though Trivandrum Lodge did have a successful run at the box office, the film was criticised for its controversial content. Both David & Goliath and Hotel California didn’t do well. Is that the reason for shelving your projects together?

When both of us limit ourselves to a team, there begins a certain group (sic). I am not too keen about that. I want to experiment with various genres.

You found success as a hero in your career pretty early. Has the attitude of viewers changed over the years?

The audience don’t want stars, they want actors. Frankly, I don’t know how to maintain stardom. I want to be known as a performer doing all kinds of roles.

I will do only characters that are convincing to me. It can succeed or fail. I am ready to work hard.

Your recent release Thank You was a failure. What went wrong?

I think the film suffered from bad marketing. It can happen and there is no point in doing a post-mortem much later. I don’t think it is a bad film.

Right now, you are not part of any high profile projects. Is it worrying you as an actor?

It’s not that I have decided not to do any high profile films. I am sure if a role suits me, it will come to me. 

For the first time you have not teamed up with director Saji Surendran in his latest project Angry Babies. Is the failure of Kunjaliyan the reason for that?

It is not because of any failure. I just didn’t feel that the character in the film suited me.

How serious are you about being co-producer of Punyalan Agarbathis?

When director Ranjith Sankar, who is the other producer, came to me with this script, I found it interesting. I have not done a humorous film for the past one year.

I am serious about my responsibility as a producer, but that doesn’t affect my acting. It is indeed great to feel that this is my own film, as I am the producer as well.