Actor in the making

The chubby little boy of 10, Kailasveswar S Nair, sat before us for an interview soon after his school hours at Sabarigiri School at Pandit’s Colony, Kowdiar. The fifth grader does not seem to have been wilted by the hours-long classes and appears smart and energetic. The moment we started asking him questions, he literally put us into trouble for a while. For, many of his responses remained a word or two. At some other times, he either shook his head coyly or gave us a cute smile. But, if one takes him to be a shy boy, one is mistaken, for his on screen performances speak in his defence.

The great-grandson of Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair takes an altogether different form before a camera. His father, Adv. Shaji Nair, is the son of Kottarakkara’s second daughter, Geetha.

The little VJ who presents ‘Kuttikalude Vartha’, a children’s programme aired on Jai Hind channel, has acted in a number of tele-serials and in a short film ‘Daivathinte Noolpavakal’ when he was just nine. The role of a cancer-afflicted kid he played for the short film won him much accolades and made several break into tears. He is also cast for the movie ‘Rithubhedam’ which will go on floors soon.

It is quite natural if one becomes curious to know how such a shy boy appears in stunning on-screen avatars. He was chosen for ‘Daivathinte Noolpavakal’ from an acting workshop and director A R Arun said that an innate talent for acting was visible in him  during the activities in the workshop. Asked about his experiences in television presentation, Kailas says he takes lessons from his mother Lekshmi Shaji who is a newsreader with the same channel.

The moment we called him for a photo shoot, the real Kailas had taken charge. When he was told to perch on one of the rides on the playground for a snap, he soon started playing them, giving us plenty of photo options. The little’s boy’s ease before camera was there for all to see.

Kailas is also good at martial arts, for he holds a ‘purple belt’ in Karate and has started learning Kalari two months ago. He has also been studying violin and keyboard for some time.

When asked to pick his favourite among the various roles his great grandpa has played, Kailas chose the one from ‘Veluthampi Dalava’. He was quick to name ‘Ronaldo’ when we asked about his favourite sports and sportsman. But he goes back to keeping mum with that cute smile on his face when quizzed about his ambitions. Maybe he has in store some surprises for us.