Tovino Thomas Interview: My Performance In 'Narivetta' Is More Emotional Than Technical
Based on true events that took place in Wayanad in the early 2000s, 'Narivetta' directed by Anuraj Manohar is said to be an intense character study about a policeman and his vulnerabilities
Anuraj Manohar’s first film Ishq (2019), starring Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko and Lisha Leona Lishoy, was both a critical success and a box-office hit. Yet, it has taken the director more than five years to get ready with his second film Narivetta. “Ishq released on May 17, 2019. Narivetta will release on May 16, 2025. Exactly five years and 364 days after Anuraj’s first film. The coincidence sounds almost like I’m reading a price tag,” jokes Tovino.
He talks of the three years it has taken since they both agreed to work on Narivetta, a fictionalised account based on true events that took place during the protests in Wayanad in the early 2000s. But Tovino insists that there was no need to build a particular comfort zone with Anuraj, given how long they’ve known each other. “We have known each other since 2014, back when he worked as an associate director in my film 7Th Day. We were supposed to make Ishq then, but Shane ended up doing it, and he pulled it off brilliantly. Then our plan was to make his second film together... but all of it fell in place only now.”
Outside of their collaborations, Tovino also speaks about the value he gives to Anuraj’s opinions on all the films the actor works on. “Because we have known each other for more than a decade, both of us have the familiarity to be brutally honest with each other. We all need people like that in our lives. The opinions of those who love us and those who hate us are both not useful; the opinions that matter are from those who have nothing to gain from either my fall or my rise.”
It’s this honesty with which they work together and the way in which the characters of Narivetta moved him, that got Tovino to say yet to this film. “It was a challenging character. Our equation helped me in my performance because it required that I surrender completely to this role. I revealed all my strengths and my weaknesses to Anuraj, and I too am entirely dependent on both my director and writer. Only they know the core of my character.”
Anuraj too talks about the conversations that led to them developing Narivetta and the character sketch they were able to create together. “We didn’t have too much confusion though. Most of Tovino’s questions during the shoot were about getting deeper into the mind space of his character. He wants to know where his character was before the scene we’re shooting for, and where he’s going to go from here. These are not even scenes we’ve written to be shot. But Tovino needs to know such details because these are questions he asks almost subconsciously, as he’s playing that character. Only actors with good judgement will ask that.”
Tovino says that these are questions that need to be asked because most films are not shot in chronological order. Another challenge is how screenplays skip between timelines and editing patterns. “So, when I’m shooting a particular scene, it’s not always relevant to know what the previous scene is in the screenplay because that might have happened six months ago for my character. What matters most is the state of mind my character is in at that moment, because he doesn’t need to see the complete movie in his head. What matters is where my character was the previous day, where he has come from, and where he’s going towards. If I’m not able to grasp the character arc, I will not be able to convince the viewer.”
What these constant discussions with the director and writers allows for is a performance that was “not planned”. “We didn’t approach this performance with a lot of technicalities. Given the depth and the layers that writer Abin Joseph had added to the character, I had the liberty to perform it from a more emotional state of mind. In some scenes, we shot after we had walked for hours, that too right next to a stream or a river. At that point, how my character speaks or behaves, cannot be planned days in advance because everything changes when you’re in that atmosphere,” adds Tovino.
The screenplay was written by journalist Abin Joseph, who is also a winner of Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award. Anuraj says that his next film too is currently being written by Abin. “Usually, a film goes on the floors once the script is locked. But for Narivetta, because Abin was on the sets throughout the film, along with the film’s editor Shameer (Mohammed), we could see the film evolve as we shot. It wasn’t just about getting what was on paper. We knew we had to achieve far more,” Anuraj adds.