Kunchacko Boban: A star wants to be liked, not an actor

Two of Kunchacko Boban’s films have been garnering attention for different reasons. The Malayalam actor discusses acting and co-producing Ariyippu and Nna Thaan Case Kodu

Kunchacko Boban has just returned from the Locarno Film Festival, where his film Ariyippu had its premiere. It is the second Malayalam film to enter the Competition section of the 75-year-old film festival. Directed by his long-time friend and director-editor Mahesh Narayanan, Kunchacko has co-produced and starred in it. “This is my first time at a film festival — national or international — and what an experience!”

Ariyippu was the first film screened under the Competition category at the festival, making the team feel quite nervous, he confesses. “We are talking about 2,500-odd people. It was a full house, and the response was amazing. The applause followed by the Q&A session was such a great start! This is way beyond my dreams.”    

Back in Kerala, Kunchacko’s dance moves to the ‘Devadoothar Padi’ song from his next release, Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval’s  Nna Thaan Case Kodu has gone viral, hitting 10 million views in a week’s time.

“These two films couldn’t be more different,” he says referring to the films. 

Chackochan, as he is known, is more cheerful than usual, acknowledging the hand of God in how things have shaped up. “You can plan your next move however much you want, but God seems to have a better plan. With Nna Thaan… for instance, we were planning on the film’s marketing strategy, but look at what happened with the song! It was organic, we could not have planned it better,” he says over the phone from Thiruvananthapuram.        

His moves for ‘Devadoothar Padi’ were not choreographed. The wriggle-meets-squirm dance sequence that spawned a trend on Instagram is entirely his work.

“A friend told me that it took a couple of days to register that it was me in the song.” What made him unrecognisable was the tanned makeup, slicked-back, oiled hair and a prosthetic for the lower jaw.