Neelavelicham director Aashiq Abu: People expressed doubts about casting Tovino Thomas as Vaikom Muhammed Basheer

While Malayalam director Aashiq Abu and actor Tovino Thomas had previously teamed up in movies such as Mayaanadhi, Virus and Naradhan, their latest movie Neelavelicham could arguably be the most challenging endeavour for the latter.

On choosing to work with the actor again after three movies, Aashiq said, “Tovino is someone whom I am comfortable working with. He takes up challenges and puts in the effort to innovate himself.”

Also read: Exclusive! Tovino Thomas: Being an ardent Vaikom Muhammed Basheer fan, it’s a blessing to work in Neelavelicham 

That said, the director, in a press meet held in Kochi, explained that there were those who had initially expressed doubts about casting the actor in the role of renowned writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer in Neelavelicham, which is a remake of the 1964 film Bhargavi Nilayam.

“Right after we had announced Tovino’s casting, a lot of people had asked if Basheer was like this?” he said. “That’s because we have only seen Basheer’s photo after he grew old. From the information we could gather, we got to know Basheer was a wrestler and a handsome man who took care of his body and was well-groomed.”

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Tovino, who was also part of the media interaction, said that he was confident about his portrayal of Basheer in the movie, which also has Rima Kallingal and Roshan Mathew. “I am someone who tries sincerely to play my characters; whether people like it or not, it’s up to them. It’s out of my control,” he said. “My confidence is that I believe that I have done the role well.”

The actor also said that Madhu, who had played the role in Bhargavi Nilayam, had seen Neelavelicham. “I could not meet him personally, but he had good things to say,” said the actor. Tovino, who is also a huge fan of Basheer’s writing, further added, “It’s a character with so many interesting layers and it was a great learning experience for me to play the role – in terms of how he stands, walks and talks. We used to discuss all of this throughout the shoot and even had workshops.”

Neelavelicham is set to hit theatres on April 20.