'The actor in me gets charged when I do theatre'

Despite a 10-year stint in theatre and a postgraduate degree in acting from a national film institute, Vinay Forrt’s journey in Mollywood has never been easy.
Though the actor is known for essaying his character roles with depth, it’s his comic act in this year’s blockbuster Premam that has appealed to the masses.
Vinay takes some time off from the shoot of his latest movie,Hello Namasthe that has him playing one of the leads, to talk to us about how life has changed post Premam and how theatre will always be his first love.
You seem to have become an overnight sensation with your role as Vimal sir in Premam Premam gave me visibility and overnight I became a favourite of the masses. I am one of those lucky guys who got to do a small role in a big film that became a massive hit. The film’s reach had an incredible impact on my career. As a result, I am getting good roles and opportunities.
After Shutter, you haven’t received an equally challenging role It is true. My role as the naive auto rickshaw driver in Shutter, took me out of my comfort zone. That said, my role in my upcoming movie by Sherrey is different. I play an alcoholic, anarchist radio announcer named Harish Chandran. Things change when he is forced to do a programme called Gandhimargam. He forsakes alcoholism and becomes addicted to Gandhism. The transformation he undergoes is the central theme of the film. I enjoyed working in the movie as it had a capable and well-prepared director who even had readied the background score for shooting the scenes.
You have always maintained that theatre is your forte I have been doing theatre since class four. I will cease to exist if I don’t do theatre. But of late, I miss theatre due to my film schedules. I have been planning a solo play and I am searching a good script for it. The actor in me gets charged when I perform a play. So, it’s necessary that I find time to do a play soon in the midst of all these movies. Theatre is my life.
How did your film institute background help you? Getting an admission to the film institute in Pune itself was the biggest turning point in my life. It gave me a lot of exposure as a person and as an actor. Rather than just watching movies, I began studying the nuances of it. My interaction with the pan Indian artistes and visiting celebs such as Naseeruddin Shah and Tom Alter in the institute helped me a lot.
I am what I am today because of the institution. Going from a small town like Fort Kochi to Pune city, and then surviving there itself was a great experience.
Your next projects I am waiting for the release of Abi Varghese's Monsoon Mangoesthat narrates the lives of a few young American Malayalis, who aspire to make films. I play Fahadh Faasil’s friend in the movie. It’s a humourous film and my character is an all-rounder in the sense that he is an actor, associate director and also a producer.
I also have a plum role in Rajeev Ravi's Dulquer Salmaan movie, which happens in two eras. I will play a 40-year-old in one and a college boy in another. I am now reducing weight to essay my young portions in the movie. In the film Hello Namaste directed by Jayan K Nair that I am currently working on, I play a radio jockey.