Exclusive | Jeethu Joseph on Why He Resonates More With Suyambu Lingam Than George Kutty: 'I Cry About the Smallest Things'

Director Jeethu Joseph has said that if he had to choose between being George Kutty from the Drishyam trilogy and Suyambu Lingam, Kamal Haasan's character from his Tamil remake Papanasam, he would pick the latter, owing to the similarity between himself and the character. 

When asked which of the two he most resonates with, Joseph said, "Maybe I'll prefer to be Suyambu Lingam, but more emotional." Suyambu Lingam, he noted, is a deeply emotional character who openly cries, which is where he feels a similarity with himself. "George Kutty is an emotional person, yes, but he never shows it. I'm a person who shows emotion. So I wouldn't be like him. I'm a very soft person, and I cry about the smallest things."

George Kutty and Suyambu Lingam are ordinary family men who commit an act they spend the rest of their lives hiding. The key difference, as Joseph sees it, is emotional expression. George Kutty internalises everything. He cannot confide in anyone, nor does he have anyone to turn to, and he has carried the weight of his secret entirely alone.

Joseph explained that he drew much of George Kutty's character from his own father, an agriculturist-turned-MLA whom he described as a grounded and approachable public figure. While aspects of his own personality also found their way into the character, Joseph said George Kutty's emotional restraint is not something he relates to personally. That, he noted, is why Suyambu Lingam feels closer to who he is.

The filmmaker first introduced George Kutty in 2013 with Drishyam, which went on to become one of Malayalam cinema's most successful franchises and was later remade in several languages, including in Tamil as Papanasam and in Hindi as Drishyam.

Drishyam 3 (Malayalam), which was released worldwide on May 21,has grossed nearly ₹230 crores globally within two weeks of release.