Chemban Vinod: No one has offered me a completely polished character yet

The sleazy truck driver in Kali, the prisoner planning a smooth jailbreak in Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil or the complex Eeshi in the most recent Ee Ma Yau, you never know what Chemban Vinod Jose will do next. But then, he manages to leave an impact in every film he does, with his studied and subtle performances. An accidental actor as he calls himself, Chemban had no plans of coming into films until his friend and filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellisserry encouraged him to.In an interview, the actor, who is part of Lijo Jose’s upcoming project as well, talks about his friendship with the filmmaker, his views on cinema and more.
Your characters are completely different from each other. How do you pick them?
I always look for something new in a film offered to me. But I don’t do too much research on my characters. I ask the director how much freedom I can take for the character and work accordingly. Swathanthryam… had a new director but we knew the film is going to be good when we saw the first cut. You can see the maker clearly in the movie. Tinu Pappachan is a director with great promise.
I had worked with Jiju Ashokan, the director of Premasuthram, for Urumbukal Urangarilla and liked his way of direction. The character of a love guru was something I had never attempted before. I guess the contrast of someone like me doing such a character worked out.
Ee Ma Yau got two kinds of reviews; some said it went over their heads while others said it’s pathbreaking.
I don’t know what is incomprehensible about the film. It speaks about two angels. They can be interpreted as the devil’s angels and God’s angels, or good and bad. Perhaps that’s what confused some viewers. It was all part of the director’s vision to include such elements.
If not for Lijo Jose, you might have never turned actor. How do you know each other?
I know Lijo from my teenage days. He is from Chalakkudy and I’m from Angamaly but our families knew each other; his cousins were my neighbours. Both of us did our studies in Bengaluru. He had always dreamt of becoming a filmmaker but I never had any such aspirations. I was into business in Bengaluru. He was the one who took the risk of casting me in a film first.
Was he also the one who found the scriptwriter in you?
I told Lijo that I have this idea with me about life in Angamaly and would like to write a script. He asked me to refer some scripts which I didn’t actually. I wrote the script of Angamaly Diaries my way. He reads only the final, fully-edited scripts. He liked mine. But he was the one who made a beautiful film out of that script.
Any other script coming up? What about direction?
I do have a script in mind but haven’t decided when I should start on it. I don’t want to talk about it as I don’t want people to have any kind of expectations. And direction, never. Not for people like me. Let me perfect my acting and writing first.
Who are your idols in cinema?
I like Denzel Washington’s style of acting. And Martin Scorsese as a director. I admire the non-linear style of writing of the Spanish scriptwriter Guillermo Arriaga.
You have a reputation of being very relaxed when acting. Is the fact that you have your business as an alternative career the reason behind this?
Life has taught me that whatever you do, it is best to do it in a relaxed manner. The same with acting. Or else, you won’t enjoy it, neither will the people watching it. If you see acting as a job, it will reflect in your performance as well. But being relaxed is not something I purposely try for. By nature, I’m a relaxed person. Not that I don’t have tensions in life, I do have them. Like, what will I eat for lunch? Will someone bring it for me or will I have to go out? But my business is not the reason for my calm at all. I wound it up seven years ago. Cinema is my only livelihood now.
Do you feel that an experimental film like Angamaly Diaries wouldn’t have been possible 10 years back? Or the kind of films you act in now?
Can we call Angamaly Diaries an experiment? In every age, cinema will reflect the society of that age, I feel. But definitely, there are more possibilities for experiments now as the audience is more accepting. Together with our cinemas and sound systems, the audience too have evolved. Their appreciation levels have risen to an international level. The success of films like Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Angamaly Diaries, Sudani from Nigeria and Ee Ma Yau is proof.
Also, with films re-writing the hero-villain formula, isn’t there a space for actors like you now?
You can equate a film with a problem, for which a viewer looks for solutions all through. If the viewer knows from the beginning that the hero will never die, the film ceases to be exciting. In foreign films, you might never be able to predict what will happen at the end, who is good and who is bad and so we are able to enjoy them more. Films become interesting when an actor who is a hero appears as a villain in his next, and as something else altogether next. I would like to consider all of us as actors, not as heroes or villains.
What next?
My next release is Tovino-starrer Maradona. My character is an ex-gangster who is cast opposite Tovino’s in the film. In Tamil, I will be seen as the villain in Goli Soda 2. In Malayalam I will be shooting for the film Dakini soon, and later, for Lijo Jose’s next film. Pre-production is going on for the film, and it will be announced soon.
Do you wish to do something completely different from your usual? Like a polished character?
Forcefully no, but I definitely wouldn’t like to do the same thing over and over again. No one has offered me a completely polished role. Something similar is coming up but let it be a surprise, what if people don’t feel it is polished? Let them judge for themselves.